16andUp:The 16th Wish
by PrincessChaylor
Summary: Season 1 Episode 1: Welcome to the beginning of the series Sixers! Troy makes a wish on his 16th birthday and makes a terrible mistake. When his mistake seems to affect everyone, can they all stick together? Or will the Wildcats crumble and be cursed forever? And is Gabi leaving East High because of it? (2019 REMAKE)
1. Welcome to 16andUp!

Welcome to the series, 16andUp! I've had this in my head for quite a while and have been working on getting it ready! We had a few stories that were labeled as episodes in the past, but the age gaps that I wrote them in suddenly occurred to me. A lot of things changed in those time gaps. Now I have a new vision and I'm so excited to share it with you!

 *** **Remember** :** The _**official**_ cover(s) for the new episodes will have the image of a scene in a polaroid frame, the season and episode number in the right-hand corner, and the title at the bottom! *****

So, after five years -wow I did _not_ catch that- _AFTER FIVE YEARS_ , it is my absolute _pleasure_ to introduce you to the first episode of my new (official) series 16andUp,

The 16th Wish!


	2. Prologue

Life.

 **(Pop sound, picture of Earth)**

You start off as a baby, knowing absolutely nothing and free of _all_ responsibility! Why free of all responsibility you ask?

 **(Blonde baby, cute giggling sound)**

Well, I'm going to be honest, I don't know why you would ask that, but I'll give you the answer:

You were free of all responsibility, because your parents were practically your slaves!

 **(Pop sound, picture of a younger Jack and Lucille Bolton, Lucille holding an infant Troy)**

You told them when to wake up...

 **(Troy crying, Lucille looking frazzled)**

 _"Troy please stop crying!" Mrs. Bolton pleaded at 1 AM._

" _Why can't he just sleep?" Jack groaned, slumped in the nursery chair that they placed in the corner of Troy's room._

When to feed you...

 _"Okay...he's finally sleeping." Mr. Bolton sighed with relief as he and his wife began to tiptoe out of the nursery..._

 _Only to be met with a screaming sound._

 _"No!" They moaned_

Everything. 'Cause you were their little man *smug voice*.

 **(Baby giggles innocently, once again)**

And also because...y'know, you're a baby.

Then you hit your child years, when every little thing you do is a huge deal.

 **(Troy falls of his bike)**

 _"Mom! Dad!" Troy cried "My tooth came out!" he said excitedly._

 _Mrs. Bolton ran over to him, "Troy that is_ not _normal! Your teeth shouldn't fall out because of a bicycle accident- oh my poor angel!" she gasped and gave him a hug._

There was also the perk, that if anything went wrong, you could go inside and watch CARTOONS!

 _"Why don't we clean you up, then after we check for any more boo-boos, you can watch television all day if you want." His mom suggested._

 _"Yay!" Troy cheered._

Yup, those were the good old days. Then when you get older (especially around your teenage years) you have more put in front of you,

 **(Troy drops his bag)**

 _"Hi Troy! I'm heading to a book club meeting in a few minutes. Do your chores please, I left a list on the fridge!" Lucille called from her room._

 _"Alright mom!" The 14 year old groaned, observing the seemingly long list already. Going to the park with Chad, Zeke, and Jason would have to wait._

But the child inside of you is still practically carefree.

 **(TV theme song, Troy dancing)**

 _"Pokemon! Gotta catch em all! Yeah~!" Troy sang at the top of his lungs as he vacuumed his room._

Some say that your life truly begins at the magical one-six. There's just _something_ special about the age of 16, that somehow makes it different from all the other birthdays. My name is Troy Bolton and I'm a 15 year old student at East High in Albuquerque New Mexico.

And on my 16th birthday...I would see that there really _was_ something special about it.

 **The 16th Wish.**


	3. Happy Birthday Wildcat!

As Troy Alexander Bolton began to stir from his sleep one Sunday morning, his brain didn't take long to process his first thought of the day. Well, his brain didn't take long to process his first _three_ thoughts of the day, to be exact.

 **Thought #1:** He wasn't in his bed from home. In fact, he was in his cabin room bed at Camp Divinity.

 **Thought #2:** He enjoyed the soft and warm feeling of the sun's rays kissing his face through the open window nearby.

 **Thought #3:** His bed felt odd. It was as if someone had placed a weight at the end of it where his legs were.

Filled with the new curiosity he had, Troy rolled over and looked at the end of his bed. He was not prepared to see all of his friends sitting there, staring at him, and grinning like nine mischievous cheshire cats. It was because he wasn't prepared, that Troy gave a startled yelp at the sight of them.

"Surprise!" They all cheered as party poppers sounded, and confetti flew into the air.

"Y-you guys, what are you doing here?!" He asked, sitting up abruptly and slowly coming down from previous his fight or flight mode.

Kelsi blinked from his left side, "Troy, what do you mean 'what are we doing here'? It's your birthday! We wanted to surprise you!" She smiled. Troy then noticed the cupcake she held in her hands that was wrapped in a pretty blue liner and topped with a candle that had yet to be lighted. Oh yeah, it was his birthday.

"I chose the star sprinkles on the icing, because you'll always be my star!" His girlfriend, Gabriella Montez, pointed out with a giggle.

"I-It looks yummy!" Troy cracked a smile, calming down.

"I'd hope so, we got up early this morning to make it for you." Chad joked, playfully slugging his right shoulder.

"You say that as if you weren't the one insisting that we should wake up _even earlier_ to make him a complete cake two days ago." Taylor McKessie arched a brow at him playfully.

"What can I say McKessie, my best friend deserves the best." He replied. "Well, at least _I_ think so. You guys decided to waste the extra hour on _sleep_."

"Um, yeah, very much needed sleep!" Sharpay scoffed, stretching a little bit. "My bed needs a new mattress, it's an absolute nightmare!"

"Talk to Christian about it." Zeke suggested with a sympathetic smile. Christian was their youth group leader, and one of the adults in charge of Camp Divinity.

"Trust me, I will."

"Alright then!" Martha clapped her hands. "Troy, according to what we learned from previous class parties, you are very uncomfortable with the birthday song. So, to help make this day good, we've voted on not singing it."

"Thank God." Troy breathed dramatically, earning a laugh from his chums.

"And now, without further ado..." She announced like a proud ringmaster as the rest of the group created a drumroll sound, "Jason, _light the candle_!" Jason grinned, walked over to Kelsi with the lighter he held, and lit the candle.

"Make a wish Troy!" Kelsi smiled.

"Oh wow you guys, this is awesome, thank you!" He smiled. "But...I don't know what to wish for! I think I'll pass." The gang made sounds of protest.

"You only get one wish each year Troy." Gabriella smiled

"Yeah! So why don't you use this one?" Taylor added.

"Before you lose it." Ryan pointed to him. "Just because you're 16 now doesn't mean you're too old for a birthday wish. Remember that."

"Really, guys, I have nothing to wish for." Troy said.

"Well...think of something." Kelsi gave a gentle smile.

"Maybe you should wish for an easy life." Chad suggested after a few seconds of thought. "We all turn 16 this year, and my mom says that's when teen life really starts to get more challenging. " The others nodded in agreement.

"You know my mom said the same thing." Taylor said, looking at the ceiling in thought.

"So did mine." Ryan shrugged. "I'm not sure why it's specifically 16 though."

"Hm..." Troy considered it before his eyes brightened, "Okay! Well," He shrugged and smacked his hands to the bed "I wish that from all of our 16th years onward, we have a good life!" he declared before blowing out the candle.

Silence.

"Troy." Gabriella whispered with wide eyes.

"Yeah, what's up?" He answered

"You're not supposed to say your wish!" Taylor said in a breathless high pitched voice.

"Oh, Yeah." Troy said. "Forgot about that rule. Huh."

"Everyone knows that when you say your risk out loud, it _doesn't_ come true!" Ryan said. "So technically, you wished that our lives were hard from this year onward."

"Superstition or not, I don't want to find out if the 'Rules of the Birthday Candle' actually exist. You just put that on _all of us_." Chad said.

"Way to go, Troy." Martha smirked.

"Guys, chill. We don't have to listen to some stupid wish rules!" Troy said, rolling his eyes. "We'll be fine!"

"We'll see." Sharpay replied before they all heard the sound of a megaphone feedback as it turned on.

"Alright kids! Bring your bags outside, grab some breakfast from the front, and let's head on home!" Christian called out from the front of the cabins. "The bus will be here in a few minutes!

It was at this moment when Troy's brain supplied him with another thought for the day:

He was not ready for Winter Break to end.

It wasn't that he hated school, his school was actually pretty decent. He didn't want break to end because he'd had so much fun camping with his friends. They loved spending their vacations at Camp Divinity, they'd been going since they were in elementary school back when it first opened. Back then, Troy and Chad's fathers lead the youth group with Christian's dad. They were friends in college and Christian's dad, Joseph Miller, had just inherited the place from his father Grant. It had been passed down for generations. The Millers loved camping.

"Okay guys! The bus is all loaded. Remember, we have to be back by 3:30!" Christian said about thirty minutes later as the bus doors opened for boarding. They all took their to-go breakfasts in paper bags and boarded the vehicle with the other teens as Chris took roll. When the rest of the group boarded (the Wildcats were at the back of the line), Sharpay waited a moment before letting Christian put his clipboard away.

"Chris, I have a question about my bed. Third floor, "Cabin 9- The Honey Badger Room", Left single bed?" Sharpay began to make her case, "The mattress is very uncomfortable."

"I'll tell you a secret, Sharpay." He smiled warmly before his voice quieted. "Mine was too, we're getting them replaced next weekend. It should be fixed by the time you come back."

"Thank God." Sharpay sighed in relief. "Okay, that will be all. Thanks Chris!" She boarded the bus and Chris gave a chuckle before boarding the bus. They all waved goodbye to the camp staff and began their drive home.

 **-Home Again~!-**

When they arrived back in Albuquerque and the bus parked outside of the church, the kids began to get off and grab their and Taylor were one of the first people off of the bus, only having to wait for a short time to get their bags. As it turned out, a boy of their age by the name of Dylan Black was contributing to the fast pace, assisting people in finding their luggage by having them point it out for him to grab.

"Hey Chad, hey Taylor." Dylan smiled (though his brown eyes seemed to brighten at "Taylor"). "Here to get your bags?"

"And what else would we be doing?" Taylor smirked, although she was only messing with him. His mother was an old business partner of her father's. They would hang out with each other during business meetings at each other's houses when they were children.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Dylan chuckled.

She gave him a smile and a light slug to his arm. "Thanks for helping unload. We all know it would go a lot slower otherwise."

"Of course!" He said with a nod that made his raven hair swish. "Can you imagine if we had a repeat of last year?"

He laughed with her and motioned for her lean down to look into the under bus storage."Which one will it be?" He placed a friendly hand on her middle back and Chad's eyes widened slightly.

"Hm...I think I see it in the right corner, behind that blue one with the basketball charm." Taylor observed and pointed out. Dylan removed his hand from her and pulled them both out.

"That would be mine, thank you." Chad said after Dylan put his luggage out, reminding them of his presence.

"Oh! Cool." Dylan said, pulling out Taylor's purple one. "There you go, Tay."

She smiled and gave him a small hug which he happily returned. "Thanks Dyl, you're the best."

"I try to be." He laughed. Chad rolled his eyes with a sigh, how annoying.

"Hey, didn't you guys used to date?" He asked suddenly, making himself known once again.

"Um...I wouldn't say, _date_?" Taylor blinked at him, as did Dylan.

"Yeah, no." He said.

"No, no, I think I remember that in 8th or 9th grade, you guys were an item." Chad replied. "You walked down the halls linked to each other sometimes?"

"I mean...yeah we went to dances together and went to each other's houses for dinner and went to the movies every now and then," Dylan began.

"So, dating. Date stuff." Chad said bluntly.

"Um…" Dylan scrunched up his face a bit. "Yeah, I guess you could label that as dating. That was 2-3 years ago, though."

"Huh. I would have thought you were planning a reunion, seeing how you guys interact, I mean." Chad replied with a face that wasn't exactly friendly, or innocent. He seemed to know whose buttons he was trying to push.

"What?" Taylor looked at him with her face scrunched into a confused and slightly irritated look. What was he _talking_ about? Perhaps he was jealous. Sure, he took her to an afterparty after his game a few months ago, but she was pretty sure that afterwards they had agreed to go back to their old ways with each being the other's nemesis (only with less hatred this time around). They had agreed that their partnership of trying to split up Troy and Gabriella was temporary and that their attractions to each other were only a result of that. So…

"Why does it matter?" Taylor asked him with the same look after Chad and Dylan continued the conversation for a moment.

Chad stopped and looked at her for a moment, blinking once, twice. "It doesn't. I'm just wonderi-" He began before they heard a high pitched scream, they quickly rushed to the other side of the bus where they saw Kelsi on the floor in front of the doors, clutching her ankle painfully. Christian rushed over to her.

"Are you alright Kelsi?" He asked her and she shook her head quickly. "What happened?!" He asked the teens who were coming off behind her (including Sharpay and Ryan).

"She missed a step and fell." Sharpay said with wide eyes. "I don't think she was paying attention to be honest…"

"Yikes Kels…" Ryan commented with wide eyes as well. "Are you okay?!"

A tight lipped, eye shut Kelsi shook her head "My ankle hurts really bad!"

Christain spotted another leader who had just stepped out from the building and waved them over quickly. Together, they both tried to help stand Kelsi up, but it only resulted with her yelping loudly in pain. After believing it to be a sprain, they called the ambulance. Chris called Kelsi's mom to alert her of what had happened and went with her to the hospital. The other leader stayed in his place. After they took Kelsi away everyone stood in slight shock. Quiet murmurs were heard.

Among the murmurs, Sharpay said to the group:

"This Day." Sharpay began, looking at Troy "Is so cursed." the birthday boy (who had just grabbed his luggage) blinked.

"This life is so cursed." Ryan shuddered, everyone stood in silence.

"It was an accident guys, come on." Gabriella said with her hand in Troy's.

"Or a birthday wish gone wrong." Jason said.

"It's a _coincidence_." Troy smirked. "Heard of 'em?" He playfully hit Jason in the chest with a pillow. "Brought you your pillow."

"Oh, thanks dude." Jason replied.

"I hope you're right, Troy." Martha said, loading her car. "Because that, was weird. Come on Jase, I'll take you home." Honks were heard.

"My parents are here." Troy said.

"My mom is here." Gabriella said at the same time. They both laughed and he kissed her cheek. "See you at school tomorrow Wildcat, happy birthday!" She smiled, running to her car.

"Bye!" He chuckled and waved to the rest of his friends. "See you at school guys!"

"See you at school!" They chorused. "Happy birthday!"

Troy greeted his parents and got into the backseat, where his presents were waiting for him in a stack. He laughed and thanked them before buckling his seatbelt. As they drove off for a fun filled day, Troy thought over what had happened earlier. He knew there was no way his wish caused Kelsi to sprain her ankle. However…

He also knew that his wish _totally_ caused Kelsi to sprain her ankle.

 **Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have any comments? Let me know down below!**


	4. Troy Explains The Hierarchy

**(Troy's voiceover)**

Here we are, first day back at school! While everyone is preparing for their next classes, let's observe the hallway! Welcome to our social hierarchy! Meet the gang!

First off, you have the **Wildcats**! The Wildcats are the school's esteemed basketball team! They can also be labeled as "The Jocks". They're "at the top of the food chain", if you will. They tend to be the most liked (or secretly hated).

"YEAH!" Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Troy cheered with their team.

The Wildcats (as a team, not a school), consists of several people. The team captains include me, Troy Bolton, as captain of the team and my best friend Chad Danforth as the co-captain (he captains the baseball team as well). Several people make up this amazing team! We also have pretty awesome cheerleaders, who could also be considered as a part of "The Jocks"/ the Wildcat team. However, let's focus in on our group of friends specifically:

 **Meet the Jocks!**

For the **basketball players** you have…

 **Zeke Baylor,** age 16! He's the best baker I've ever met! Also, has a huge crush on Sharpay Evans, a drama club teen...

"Hey Sharpay!" Zeke greeted his crush as she walked up to his locker.

"Zekey!" Sharpay chirped, her light brown eyes sparkling with excitement. "Did you bring the cookies?"

Zeke pulled a cookie tin out of his locker and opened it to reveal bright pink sugar cookies with a magenta 'S' on top. "Tada!" He sang.

Sharpay squealed and hugged him. "You're the best!"

(But, we'll get back to her later.)

Next you have **Jason Cross** , age 16! He's not exactly the bright one of the bunch, but really nice and fun to be around! And there's my best friend, **Chad Danforth** , age 15! He's obsessed with basketball and takes a lot of pride in our team. He seems tough on the outside sometimes, but he has a big heart!

"Hey, Chad? I just found this test from last semester in my locker." Jason said to his friend, pulling out the slightly crumpled piece of paper.

"What kind of test is it?" Chad asked, standing his textbooks straight after putting one in his bag for class.

"Algebra, equations." Jason said. "I don't know why I got so many wrong. I was sure sure I did it correctly."  
Chad turned and held out his hand, "Let me have a look at it." he offered. Jason handed it to him and Chad observed it for a moment.

"Well, Jason, here's your problem! You missed the division part, that threw off the rest of your equation." Jason mouthed "Ooooh…" silently. "Here," Chad continued, "Take this one for example. What is 6 divided by 2? You put 12."

"Because it is 12!" Jason exclaimed.

"What?! Jason, no, it's 3! You're thinking of multiplication." Chad blinked.

Jason looked over the paper once again and thought about it before silently mouthing "Ooooh…" once again.

"Sometimes, I worry about you." Chad mumbled.

"Yeah, me too. I get nervous during tests." Jason admitted. "You look nice today, by the way."

Chad smiled at that. "Thanks Jase."

Last, you have me, **Troy Bolton** , age 16! I love basketball and my friends. I'm a pretty chill person to be around to be honest, I like when everyone gets along. Oh, and I'm dating the love of my life! I can't wait to introduce her.

"Hey guys! Have you seen Gabriella yet?" Troy walked up to his friends and asked.

"No, not yet." Jason and Chad said simultaneously.

"Hey, Danforth!" They heard and saw a pretty green-eyed redhead walk their way.

 **Meet the Cheer Squad**

First, you have **Amber Wilson** , age 15. She's the captain of the squad and the personality of a leader to prove it. We used to call her fireball in elementary school because of her hot temper. She'd always be the once to keep us in line, though.

"Where were you all break?!" She asked Chad, playfully slapping his arm.

"I was at camp!" Chad snickered, play fighting her back.

Amber's co-captain and best friend **Natalie Gonzalez** , is also 15. The two of them have been friends with us since we were kids.

"Hey guys, how was break?" Natalie smiled to the rest of the group, her long jet black hair pulled into a ponytail.

"Good!" They replied.

"Clearly not since you didn't think to hang out with us _once_!" Natalie smirked.

"Yeah, what's up with that?!" Amber joined in and a playful debate ensued.

Across the hallway, Taylor narrowed her eyes at the group of friends as she closed her locker.

"The hall is always _so_ peaceful until they get together." She commented with an irritated sigh. "It's been like that since elementary school."

"Well, jocks will be jocks." Martha smiled. "And we…" She waved her finger in a circle, indicating the rest of the group behind her. "will be brainiacs." She grinned.

 **Meet the Brainiacs**

The brainiacs (or as some say, "nerds") are a well sized group. They lead the school through scholastic decathlons, spelling bees, all that jazz. Their leader, who also happens to be the class president, is Taylor Mckessie. She's 15.

"That, we will be." Taylor replied proudly grinning back.

"Talking about nerd stuff?" She heard someone say. That someone was Chad, and her grin immediately changed to a frown because of it.

"Danforth, don't you have anything better to do? Like calling as much attention to yourself as possible? Or worshipping the trophy case? Or heck, observe your muscles?" Taylor asked. "Why don't you do that instead?"

"Aw, I'm glad you noticed my muscles McKessie." Chad gushed with a sarcastic smirk. "However, why would I do any that when I could be bothering _you_ instead?"

"What is my life." Taylor hissed quietly, looking at the ceiling.

Chad and Taylor...they don't always get along. In fact, when we were in second grade, they swore to enemies and hate each other forever. I don't know why their date didn't work out, not completely. The tale is as old as time though, Chad and Taylor cannot stand each other.

"Chad, if you were my husband I'd poison your coffee." Taylor said, looking straight ahead at her locker.

"If you were my wife I'd drink it!" Chad scoffed. Taylor flipped around to face Martha again, turning her back on him. Chad just laughed.

"Leave her alone, Chad." Jason smirked, wrapping an arm around Martha. "Morning, beautiful."

"Hey, you." Martha smiled at her boyfriend.

 **Martha Cox** , age 16. She's awesome, and has some _killer_ hip hop routines. When it comes to supporting the merging of statuses, I like to think of Martha as one of the top supporters. She was one of the first to start openly dating someone outside of her status. The first couple to do so would be me and my girlfriend-

"Sorry I'm late! Hey guys!" Gabriella ran up to the group, slightly out of breath. "Morning!" They waved.

There she is, **Gabriella Montez**! Age 15, absolutely beautiful! She's a super smart science girl and the Juliet to my Romeo. She's the love of my life!

"Hey Troy!" Gabriella sang as she hugged Troy.

"Hey Gabi!" Troy kissed her cheek.

"Morning guys." They heard and turned to see Ryan Evans. Ryan Evans was a part of the drama club teens.

 **Meet the Drama Club Teens**

Leading the drama teens you have Sharpay Evans and her twin brother/partner in crime, Ryan Evans.

"We have arrived." Sharpay flipped her hair to add effect to her sentence.

"Long live the queen." Chad muttered under his breath, earning a glare from her.

 **Sharpay Evans** has been in every school play since elementary school and she's played the lead role in every one. Who's to blame? She has talent. Sometimes that talent can go to her head. She could also be known as the ice queen of the drama teens. She could be labeled as the ice queen of the school, really. Sometimes she says or does mean things...but she can be nice too. We still consider her one of us no matter what!

"Welcome back one and all." Ryan clapped his hands together. "Let's do this."

 **Ryan Evans** likes hats. He claims to have a massive collection of them at home and we _definitely_ believe him. It seems as if we've never seen the same hat twice. He also likes to write music and choreograph dance routines. He's the quieter twin who also possesses the Evans' talents of putting on a good show. Being the quieter twin also means being pushed around by the older twin (of 7 minutes), Sharpay. He seems okay for now, but one day he'll get the spotlight.

"Never to fear, the drama teens are here." Kelsi smiled, finally meeting up with the group on her new crutches.

Last but not least, there's **Kelsi Nielsen** , age 15. Also a drama teen. She is also soft-spoken likes to write songs, they always ending up speaking directly to the heart. She also tends to get pushed around by Sharpay. She's like her assistant. We all think that she and Ryan should go out, but they seem too shy to flirt with each other for long periods of time. Well, that's everyone!

"Well, that's everyone." Zeke said. "So, how is everyone's m-" Suddenly, the bell rang. Everyone groaned, knowing it was time for class. They waved goodbye and started off on their short journeys.

"See you at lunch guys." Troy laughed.

Welcome to East High.


	5. Albuquerque's Best

**Good morning everyone! Or I could say good afternoon/evening, it depends on when I get this chapter uploaded… Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the remodel! I'm going as fast as I can for these first few chapters and I'm loving the idea of my schedule! One step at a time is always best. So let's continue with the series's first step, shall we?**

When Sharpay Evans heard the serene sound of the lunch bell ring, she was just finishing a re-application her favorite strawberry pink lip gloss. Her lips turned up slightly in a triumphant smile as she quickly put her notebook in her bag and prepared to leave. One might ask why she had such an expression of victory at the mere sound of the lunch bell. Well, it wasn't because they were serving New York Deli sandwiches in the cafeteria that day, but rather because the lunch bell held a different meaning for her.

"Ah ah ah, everyone wait just a moment!" stopped her history class. "Before you go I want to remind you guys about our upcoming events. I know that everyone is excited for the New Years' Dance, but please remember that your greek scholar essay is due that Thursday!" She sighed internally, noting that they were all too busy packing to pay full attention to her. Even so, she continued speaking. "I will be accepting them then until I leave my office at 4 PM! Remember class, _business_ before _pleasure_. Give yourselves enough free time to relax. Have a nice day! Oh, and good luck to everyone who auditioned for our upcoming school play!"

The students bustled out the doorway, eager to get to their sandwiches and friends. Sharpay, however, didn't follow the crowd on their way to the cafeteria. She had to make a quick stop to the bulletin board down the hall first. She had to get past the mass of students in the hall first though...

As she began to move her way past her fellow students, Zeke spotted her from the classroom he had come out of and made his way to her side.

"Hey Sharpay!" Zeke smiled, holding a paper in his hand. "How was class?"

"Class was class." Sharpay said quickly, still trying to maneuver her way through the hungry high schoolers.

"Cool! I uh, entered the school baking competition! I think I'm going to make cupcakes." He continued. "I was thinking up names for my entry, but I'm not sure-"

"That's nice Zeke- I'll see you at lunch!" She said, pushing past him

"Um…okay? I-I'll see you later!" He beamed and sighed "She's so beautiful…"

A girl heard him from across the hall and scrunched up her nose, "Seriously?" she gawked at him. He didn't notice and made his way to lunch.

When Sharpay passed the music room, Kelsi looked a bit flustered as she hobbled on her crutches as fast as she could to Sharpay.

"Sharpay!" She called with a wave. "I was thinking about what you mentioned before break, about the balcony scene song for next month's play? The song is about both parties feeling insecure about seeing each other again. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have the lead- I mean, to have _you_ sing both parts. It would take away from the male lead's character." The play didn't have the characters' names just yet.

"What are you talking about? It sounds like a great idea if it means I get more parts, silly!" She beamed, giving Kelsi a playful shove, accidentally sending her sideways. She didn't notice, her eyes saw the bulletin board a few steps away.

"Whoa!" Kelsi exclaimed, falling to the side towards the wall. Taylor just so happened to see her on her way to lunch and rushed to catch her, slamming into the wall in her place.

"Ow!" She exclaimed.

"Sorry Taylor!" Kelsi gasped. Taylor growled in annoyance and tried to push Kelsi up nicely. Chad, Gabriella, and Troy had curiously followed Taylor after her dash. They stood next to her and watched Sharpay as she went up the bulletin board.

"It's fine Kelsi." Taylor said "Sharpay, watch it!" she called out angrily to Sharpay.

Sharpay was no longer listening, because she had reached her destination. Sure enough she found that...

Sharpay turned around quickly with excited eyes, her blonde hair swishing with the movement, "I got the role!" she squealed. "I get to play the leading lady

"Yay, you did it, we all knew you would." Taylor said, unenthusiastically as she helped Kelsi back up. Sharpay grinned to herself and took out her phone to text Ryan to meet her by the bulletin. The rest of the group went to lunch.

"I don't get how she can be so selfish at times." Taylor muttered.

"This is Sharpay we're talking about." Chad replied. "She was basically born with a compact mirror in her hand."

"It's probably just bad habit." Troy said.

"Probably." Gabriella sighed. "She _is_ our friend regardless, but sometimes she can be a bit much..." They walked into the cafeteria and started off towards their tables.

"Oh, Danforth!" Taylor called out to Chad before he went to put his bag down, causing him to turn and look at her. "Don't forget, we're back to working on the dance tomorrow after school. We should have some stuff coming in tomorrow. I think they're the chargers and cutlery that we ordered."

"Oh, great!" Chad said. "Okay then. So, tomorrow at 3:30?" He asked with a point.

"Tomorrow at 3:30. Don't be late!" She pointed back.

"I would never do such a thing." Chad crossed his arms and Taylor gave him a look. "...again." Chad added with a mischievous grin.

"See you then, Chad." She rolled her eyes dramatically and walked to her group. Even though Troy and Gabriella had changed the game when it came to East High's status quo, the school hadn't quite caught on just yet. Because of this, the group ended up sitting with their normal groups and the school's _golden couple_ usually ended up having lunch on a rooftop bench. It wasn't perfect, but at least they got to spend lunch together without their friend groups being nasty to each other.

"I'm going to be honest." Gabriella said, after she and Troy had recovered from laughing at a joke he'd made. "I love spending this time with you. I love any time I spend with you."

"I love spending time with you too." Troy smiled.

"Thanks Wildcat." Gabriella smiled back fondly. "I wish everyone felt the same way…"

"Old habits die hard. It's gonna take a while for them to change." Troy commented, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I know...but it would be so nice if everyone would just accept one another." She sighed, taking a sip of her chocolate milk. It was quiet for a moment before Gabriella asked him, "Would you ever go back to the way things were, with your friends?"

Troy smirked at that before looking back at his girlfriend, "No way. Then I wouldn't have you." He poked her side playfully. She giggled happily in response and placed her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Troy."

"I love you too, Gabi."

Suddenly, their phones rang. They had just received a text from Zeke. They both looked off of Troy's phone.

 _Zeke: Anyone up for milkshakes? Taylor and I are paying. Back to school treat!_

Zeke, Taylor, Kelsi, and Jason all worked at a diner inside of their neighborhood mall by the name of Albuquerque's Best. It was actually pretty good food spot! They'd started the year before. Zeke was an excellent cook, Kelsi and Taylor made good waitresses (But Kels couldn't do work at the time obviously) , and Jason...Jason was a decent waiter as well.

"Milkshakes?" Troy asked Gabriella.

"Milkshakes." She nodded with a grin. "Now let's organize carpool."

 **-Diner Day-**

"I wanna ride with Zeke!" Kelsi quickly said as they all stood in the parking lot after school.  
"You're riding with me!" Sharpay declared.  
Kelsi grumbled and trudged to Shar's pink car. "Okay then, open air driving with my best friend it is." She groaned.

"I'm riding with Troy and Jason in Martha's car...her playlist is too good to miss so..." Gabriella slowly said. "Gee thanks, I get to third wheel." Taylor grumbled.

"Chad can go with you in Shar's car?" She said "There's two more seats-"

"We'd rather not." Chad said.

"Well...Troy and I aren't sharing." Gabriella gave a smirk. They gagged. "So unless you want to walk to the diner...then-"

Sharpay's music was blasting down the highway. Or was it her voice? The world would never know. "TOUCH ME!" she belted as the passionate song from Cats played. "IT'S SO EASY TO LEAVE ME! ALL ALONE WITH MY MEMORY!"

Kelsi sat in the middle, pulling her hat a little lower in an attempt to cover her face from passing and Taylor were sitting with their arms crossed, facing different directions.

Ryan looked annoyed beyond belief. "Sharpay, can we listen to some pop music or something? And for Pete's sake could we turn it down?" The song paused and the back seaters groaned.

"Ryan, this is my car." Sharpay said dramatically as if she had been inconvenienced.

"Well, you could at least make it more bearable to ride in!" He argued.

"Amen to that." Kelsi grumbled.

"Excuse me Kelsi, would you like to walk?" she batted her eyes in her rearview mirror.

"Sharpay!" Taylor's eyes widened. Something told her they were coming to that on/off stage. "You know it'd take even longer for her in her current state!"

"My ankle is a bit squished..." she whimpered

"Kelsi, do you _ever_ stop whining?!" Sharpay exclaimed

"Hey! Watch it!" Ryan and Chad exclaimed.

"This is my car, you chose to ride in it." The three in the back seat opened their mouths to protest, but soon decided against it. Sharpay kept talking, "I was kind enough to bring you to the diner/work." She had a small point? "I'm blasting my voice and speakers _like I always do_ , end of story." She switched 'Cats' back on. Everyone groaned and sat in silence until they got off the freeway and parked in the mall's parking lot.

"We're here!" Taylor cheered. "Milkshake time!

"Yay!" Everyone cheered. They hopped out the car. Ryan retrieved Kelsi's crutches from the trunk, handing them to her. She smiled and hobbled off.

"Let's go Shar." Ryan said. She sighed and followed them in. One escalator and a few steps later, they entered the restaurant with their friends.

"Hey Brick." The young employees greeted their boss.

The man looked like a slightly younger version of Gordon Ramsay, except with dark brown hair. Like the famous chef, Brick had an accent as well. He also wasn't always the nicest boss. Of course he had his good days, but most days consisted of him being moody and frustrated for unknown reasons.

Brick threw up his hands in dramatic frustration before letting his hands stop midway. "You're late!" He exclaimed.

"Yes by..." Taylor looked at her watch. "Two minutes now."

Brick looked at her. " . What time are you to be here?"

"3:40, Brick." Taylor answered dully.

"What time is it now?"

"3:42."

"Mhm." He nodded, standing next to her. "You're late." They all sighed and apologized.

Brick gently jerked his head to the office and kitchens. "Get dressed."

They all went to grab their uniforms from their lockers, except Kelsi, who was stopped by Brick.

"What the bloody hell happened to you?" His eyes widened.

"I fell..." She responded.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Perfect."

"I-I'm sorry...Brick?" Kelsi tensed.

He turned his exhausted face to the shorter girl in the bunch. "We needed to update the playlists anyway. Think you can do it?" She nodded twice. "Go on then. I'll have to think of something else for you to do until you feel better. It'll most likely be kitchen work." He said the last part more to himself than to her. She nodded again and went. The rest of the gang greeted him before taking sitting down at an open booth near the window.

"Okay, menus." Brick placed them down on the table. "As a working adult I suggest you, Mr. Bolton take it to-go. If I remember correctly you have to be at Best Buy in..." he checked his watch. "Twenty minutes."

His eyes widened. He didn't remember -in all the times that he'd come there- ever telling him- "Teens can be loud. Adults memory can be sharp." He whispered, walking off. Everyone smirked at Troy's expression.

"You heard him wildcat." Gabi smiled. "Hurry up. Here, I'll grab one too and we can leave together. I have to help mom at the shop." Her mother ran a local pet store with her Uncle for the time being and Gabi could thank that for keeping her grounded for now. Ms. Montez's original company had hit a rough patch, laying several workers off, including her. It was sad yes, but her mom found a way again, she always did. Troy smiled at her as they opened their menus.

Taylor gracefully slid up to the table wearing her uniform, cute as ever. "Hi! Welcome to Alb- oh please you already know-" Taylor tried to skip it with a laugh.

"Finish it!" Brick yelled with a slight tune from across the room.

Taylor's eyes widened. She sighed before perking up again, falsely. ""Hi! Welcome to Albuquerque's Best, I'm Taylor and I'll be your server today! Are you ready to order?"

The gang snickered, which made her give a look of annoyance. "Stop it. Now are you ready?" "One chocolate milkshake please." Martha raised a hand

"Strawberry for me please." Ryan said as Taylor scribbled on a notepad.

"Vanilla." Sharpay said in a slightly demanding tone. Taylor glared.

"Of course, your highness." She mumbled.

"Two oreo!" Troy and Gabriella ordered in sync, laughing.

"As always." Taylor smiled, looking to Chad. "And you?"

Chad blinked, staring at the girl that he had called his nemesis for as long as he could remember. She was so graceful and sassy...and he was being honest? She was also kind of cute. Seeing her working made him remember why he asked her to the after party last semester in the first place. Her brain was incredible. She received straight A's in all of her classes, was the Class President, _and_ she was an excellent schemer. The way they'd worked side by side to break up Troy and Gabriella for the sake of the status quo and their crews, really gave him a chance to truly get to know her. Those few nights of messaging and planning, late night plan changes…

 _"Even seeing her in her Mickey Mouse pajamas that one time..."_ He thought with an inner laugh. It made them a little closer. Their plan had failed, but they came together for the new less evil one in the end. Their best friends were happy and East High won their course as anyone could see...

"Danforth." Taylor snapped him out of his thoughts with a pointed look.

Their victory high hadn't lasted.

"I'll have a mint chocolate please." He said.

"Fine. That's all?" They nodded. "Alright then! Be right back. Troy? Get to work. You forgot to add 'to go'." She smirked and the group laughed at him teasingly.

"I can remember that myself thank you!" He called out.

"Clearly not!" Taylor sang back, already out of sight.

Gabriella looked over to Sharpay, her usual smile fading a little. "Sharpay, don't you think you were just a little too demanding with Taylor?"

"She's an employee is she not?" She replied, fiddling with her phone.

"Well, yeah but..." Gabriella tried to word it properly. "She's not y'know...your employee."

"Okay, maybe she's not. I thought my tone was perfectly fine." Sharpay said.

"It's just that...she's your friend too. You have a tendency to be...rude...to people." Gabi said softly.

Sharpay stopped. "What?"

"You can just be...rude sometimes." Gabriella repeated "Especially to your friends."

"Gabi, thanks but I don't-" Ryan began.

"It's true! She's not a bad person she's just kind of mean sometimes!" She protested, slowly leaning back into the booth, whispering quietly. "Sometimes...most of the time...all the time."

"Hey!" Sharpay exclaimed "I'm nice!" she pointed to herself. "I can be nice!" she nearly growled.

"Then why are you saying it with almost subtle rage?" Martha said softly. Chad smirked.

Sharpay stood up and quickly walked outside.

Ryan sighed and looked to the booth. "She left her bag...so she's coming back." Taylor walked up with the drinks. Fast as ever.

Troy sighed. "Maybe we should go...tell her we apologize?" "You were leaving anyway." Ryan pointed out with a look.

"Right. Well...um...sorry? Good luck? I dunno just, I hope she's okay." Troy said, Gabi nodded gently. He took the drinks from Taylor, thanked her and said goodbye before leaving with Gabi.

Taylor blinked. "Where's Sharpay?"

"Ice Queen had to step out." Chad said before explaining what was said.

"Shouldn't someone go get her?" She looked to the girl's brother.

"Do you really think I want to calm the storm? No thanks." He sipped his milkshake. Taylor blew her bangs from her face. "She left her bag so-"

"She's coming back." Martha, Ryan, and Chad said in unison.

"Yeah..." She said softly. "Well, Table 5's burgers are ready so...I'll see you in a bit."

"Um...Tay?" Martha said. "You get off in another hour right?"

"Yes." She replied

"I can't drive you home...my sisters are home for the week starting today, we have to go pick them up from the airport." Martha said sympathetically. "I'm so sorry girl."

Taylor sighed with a weak smile. "It's fine, I'll just try and catch the next bus."

"Alone?" Ryan questioned. "Sharpay most likely doesn't want to talk to anyone right now."

"Yeah. Plus, she has to bring Kelsi home. I heard her say this morning she had a song to show her."

"True. But...alone? On the bus?"

"We've all done it so many times before!"

"I don't think so."

"Ryan!" Taylor exclaimed. "I'll be fine!"

"I'll go with her. I don't have a ride now either." Chad mumbled

"Perfect!" Ryan said before Taylor could protest. "Be safe! Glad we worked this out." Ryan sipped his milkshake again. Taylor groaned and swiftly walked off to serve Table Five.

They all watched as she approached the counter with her tray. They saw Zeke talking to her. "She doesn't look too pleased." Martha whispered to Ryan.

"Neither does he. It's normal." He whispered back. " _But~_ way to do a good deed Chad!"

He looked over with narrowed eyes. "Whether she was going or not I'd still be on the bus." "Shut up and let me believe you're that nice."

"Zeke!" They heard Taylor call out. Their heads flipped around to see Zeke walking out of the kitchen view.

"Pierre, Brick said you could cover for me." He said to the other cook,.

"Um...okay."

"Zeke!" Taylor called out again, following him. The kitchen doors flung open. Zeke started taking off his apron, flinging it onto the hook and heading for the doors, Taylor trying to keep up.

"Zeke where are you going?!" Tay asked.

Zeke turned to look at his friend. "To look for Sharpay." "She's probably fine Zeke..."

"Are you talking about her physical, or emotional being? Because storming out of a restaurant after being singled out, is not fine. She was hurt. Someone has to find her." He said softly.

"Okay..." She nodded. "Hope you find her..."

"Thanks." Zeke said before motioning to Martha. "I should be back in time to leave with you and Jason."

"Alright." She nodded. He left and Taylor looked after him before going back to work.

 **Thanks for reading! Next chapter, we're going for the first song of the series. Sorry for not posting the soundtrack, bear with me lol. So next we have, Jessie J's Masterpiece (I'm not changing it from the original because I really want to move on lol) and afterwards everyone goes home which will launch us to look into the family backgrounds so we all know what we're dealing with. Happy reading!**


	6. Masterpiece

**OLD NOTE: Sudden burst of realization. 16andUp as a whole consists of 10 characters. The main characters would be 7. I need to put in the musical scene AND type out what each home looks like. There is NO WAY I can squish all of that into one chapter and still have your full attention. So we resort to blocking and adding a chapter!**

 **Next one: Martha, Jason, Zeke, Kelsi, The twins Next Chapter After that: Troy, Gabi, Chad, Taylor**

 **Got it? Supporting characters first, (save for drama squad), main characters next! Bring it on!**

* * *

Sharpay quickly walked through the mall, looking for a place away from those she called her friends. She kept walking, breathing heavy. She didn't want to cry, at least not in front of anyone, and she realized that there obviously wasn't a good place to be alone at the mall. However, there had a fountain behind the mall with sculptures and a nice field. Sharpay looked to the other side of the mall, leading downstairs and took a deep breath. Gabriella's words rang in her head.

 _"It's true! She's not a bad person she's just kind of mean sometimes!" She protested, slowly leaning back into the booth, whispering quietly. "Sometimes...most of the time...all the time."_

 _"Hey!" Sharpay exclaimed "I'm nice!" she pointed to herself. "I can be nice!" she nearly growled._

 _"Then why are you saying it with almost subtle rage?" Martha said softly. Chad smirked._

Sharpay blew a lock of hair from her face. What about those times with Zeke? What about the end of the basketball game? "We're all in this together"? Yeah right. She groaned in annoyance.

So what if she wasn't nice? At least she was trying. But no one saw that, now did they?

 **(Masterpiece)**

"'So much pressure, why so loud?'" Sharpay sang, imitating the lot she called her friends. "If you don't like my sound, you can turn it down. I gotta road...And I walk it alone..." She narrowed her eyes, boarding the escalator going down.

"Uphill battle, I look good when I climb.I'm ferocious- precocious- I get braggadocios I'm not gonna stop...I like the view from the top…" Sharpay shrugged, thinking of times in her life when she wasn't exactly perfect.

 _It was the school play, 8th grade. Cinderella to be exact._

 _Sharpay wanted the part of Cinderella- of course- it was the top role. Duh. However, she was going to have to go against a girl named Olive. She wasn't even blonde. How she got the part, Sharpay would never understand. She'd even gone as far to memorize all of Cinderella's lines! She told everyone she would be Cinderella. She thought the part was as good as hers._

 _Apparently not._

 _She was cast as a wicked stepsister instead._

 _So...Sharpay may have gone overboard by getting some of her other friends to help talk about how bad Olive's acting was in front of her and pretend not to notice. Back then, Olive was sensitive. She fled the cafeteria in tears that day. Sharpay got the part, and Olive hated her for it._

Sharpay glanced down the escalator and saw her. Olive was even more gorgeous now, but she became tougher since that day. She gave up acting completely, and became a jock (soccer team).She was one of those people who didn't believe in statuses mixing.

 _"Probably because she doesn't want the preps/drama teens interacting with the jocks. Or 'me' interacting with the jocks really."_ Sharpay thought. Olive met eyes with her before turning to her friends and whispering, they soon all laughed and tried to make discreet glances. They were not discreet. Sharpay's eyes narrowed.

"You talk that blah blah that la la, that rah rah sh-and I'm so done, I'm so over it!" She sang as she watched the girl. She couldn't help it. Her attention was now focused.

Olive batted her eyelashes and flipped her dark hair. Her mouth movements clearly looked like she was mocking someone. Sharpay's blood boiled as the crowded escalator ride began to come to it's end.

"Sometimes I mess up, I eff up, I hit and miss. But I'm okay, I'm cool with it." Sharpay passed them like she didn't even see. She heard Olive's snort of disbelief though.

She stopped in front of the kiddie zone, watching them play happily. They didn't have status quos yet. They didn't even have much homework. One kid made her smile though. She was a bubbly, dirty blonde with a pink tutu. Yet, she hung out alone. How did Sharpay notice her? She fell flat on her face in front of them all.

"Oh Emma!" An employee cooed, picking her up and soothing her.

Sharpay averted her eyes to make it a little better for Emma at least. Her eyes caught sight of coloring pages on the door. They had a lot of...messy drawings. Sharpay smiled, relating to the kids in another way.

"I still fall on my face sometimes and I- can't color inside the lines 'cause, I'm perfectly incomplete, I'm still working on my masterpiece and I-" Her eyes widened as she saw a drawing of a log cabin by a lake. It looked as if it were drawn by an adult, and then she saw a name in kid writing. Emma Hunt. Emma's drawing. It was...incredible. She couldn't even draw like that.

Sharpay smiled. Those kids saw a clumsy nobody, but she was clearly much more. Just like Sharpay. Besides y'know...the nobody part. She was an actress. One day, her name would be on billboards."I wanna hang with the greats gotta- way to go, but it's worth the wait, no." She turned back to Olive and her crew. "You haven't seen the best of me. I'm still working on my masterpiece and I-"

(Oh oh, oh ah)

"What the heck was that look?" Ariana, one of the soccer girls, blinked.

"Who cares. She was always off in the first place." Olive grumbled, watching Sharpay go outside. "Why would she change now?"

(Oh oh, oh ah)

Sharpay looked past the parking lot to see Gabi and Troy waiting for the bus, hand in hand. She narrowed her eyes, Gabi's words in her head. "Those who mind, don't matter. Those who matter, don't mind. If you don't catch what I'm throwing then I'll leave you behind- gone in a flash...And I ain't living like that..." Sharpay sang, walking on, heading to the mall fountain. If they were really her friends, why did they treat her differently?

"They talk that Blah blah that la la,"

 _"I'm actually surprised Ice Queen came." Gabi muttered as she helped Martha set up a tent in her living room for a sleepover. "Someone guard me. Who knows what she's planning."_

 _"It could be nothing." Kelsi sang._

 _"Kels, you don't hit on your friend's boyfriend and act like you hate her, then show up to her house for a sleepover." Taylor pointed out, putting her hair in a bun._

 _"Yeah...that's true." Kelsi sighed. "Maybe someone should guard her."_

 _Gabi laughed. "TOLD YOU!" The girls burst into laughter, coming up with devious things Sharpay might do. The worst idea was that she could cut Gabi's hair while she was asleep to perform voodoo or something._

"That rah rah-"

 _"Sh!" Martha hissed as Sharpay entered the room, and everyone was silent._

"Go with the punches, and take the hits. Sometimes I mess up, I eff up, I swing and miss."

They acted like nothing happened that night, no matter how many times Sharpay asked. What they didn't know is that she was behind the wall the entire time.

Sharpay exhaled, sitting on the edge of the fountain. "But it's okay, I'm cool with it." No she wasn't. "I still fall on my face sometimes and I can't color inside the lines 'cause, I'm perfectly incomplete. I'm still working on my masterpiece and I-I wanna hang with the greats gotta way to go, but it's worth the wait, no-"

Gabriella sighed to herself as she stood at the bus stop with Troy. Sharpay could be sensitive, but she'd never stormed out at something so...small? Or was it small to her? Maybe she had feelings about it before and Gabi was her breaking point! She wanted to bury her head in her arms at the very thought! Shame! Shame on her! Gabriella though about the times when Sharpay was nice to her….

 _They were at this clothing store, Delores one day. Gabriella saw the prettiest purple dress. It was short and somewhat casual._

 _Sharpay had caught where she was looking and smiled. "Why don't you try it on Gabi? It might look great."_

 _"Yeah...but the pet shop has been closed lately due to my Uncle's broken leg. I don't know why mom couldn't handle it but, currently that means I don't have the money for it. If I try it on, I just know my mood will be wrecked if I like it..." Gabriella sighed_

 _Sharpay looked at her with sympathy. "I wanted to see you in it too, but I understand." she sighed. Suddenly she lifted her head. An idea. "Unless..."_

 _"Unless?" Gabi asked, raising an eyebrow._

 _"Okay, this may sound really dumb, but what if we tried on clothes just for fun? Like playing dress up." Gabi smiled with bright eyes._

 _"It isn't the smartest concept for our hearts and wallets, but I like the way you think! Setting my mind to 'just dress up'... I'm up for it if you are!" Gabriella giggled._

 _"Good!" Sharpay smiled, picking a dress of her own._

 **You haven't seen the best of me**

 _They were in that dressing room, talking and laughing while making up play situations for half an hour at least._

 _"Ready?" Sharpay asked with a gentle smile, holding up the purple dress. Gabriella inhaled before nodding. She slipped into it._

 _"Well?" She asked nervously, facing Sharpay whose eyes were wide._

 _Sharpay gently turned her around to the mirror. Gabriella gasped. It looked beautiful..._

 _"It fits." Sharpay said softly._

 _Gabriella observed it from all angles, taking her time. "Yeah..." she said after a moment. "It doesn't fit my price range right now though." she sighed. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up Shar..." Sharpay nodded, fully dressed._

 _"I'm gonna put these back." She said, picking the remaining clothes up. "See you in a bit?" Gabi nodded. I'm still working on my masterpiece and I-"_

 _When Gabriella walked out with the dress (she had to admit she was being a little slow), the last thing she expected to see was Sharpay smiling with her debit card attached to a receipt._

 _"What is it?" Gabriella asked quietly, confused._

 _"Gabi, that dress looks perfect on you. I just had to buy it." She smiled. Gabi's jaw dropped. Sharpay suddenly looked nervous. "I'm sorry, it's not that I didn't think you could buy it for yourself before it went out or something...i-it was just so fabulo-OH!" Gabriella almost knocked her over in a hug._

 _"Thank you!" She said. "Oh Shar, this has to be the nicest thing you've ever done for me!" Sharpay's smile dropped and formed into a confused pout. "Nnooo...I don't think so." "Hm, yeah. Definitely." Gabi smiled, eyes closed in happiness._

 _"No..."_

 _"Yeah." Gabi poked Sharpay's nose before skipping out the store. Sharpay sighed and chuckled._ (Oh oh, oh ah)

She felt awful but she wasn't gonna show it. Troy would worry.

Troy and Gabriella stood quietly at the bus stop, hand in hand.

...

"You feel bad don't you?" Troy asked after a moment. He didn't need to look at her to be able to tell.

Gabriella nodded quietly. "I didn't mean to make Sharpay run away...I was-"

"You were just trying to be honest but you forgot how to word it? Or something?" Troy finished

Gabriella nodded again. "But- I don't get it. How else could I have worded it?"

Troy blinked. "The only flaw I saw was the muttering at the end, other than that...I don't know."

"Yeah..." Gabi sighed. "I'll call her later and apologize."

(Oh oh, oh ah)

"Oh not today. Whenever she's upset like this she doesn't talk much." A honk was heard. Troy looked in it's direction. "Now come on beautiful, the bus is here." Gabriella smiled as the boarded the bus.

Sharpay turned to look at her reflection in the water. What were other people seeing that she couldn't? "I still fall on my face sometimes and I-can't color inside the lines 'cause-" That's when she realized what she was saying. "I'm perfectly incomplete. I'm still working on my masterpiece. Masterpiece, masterpiece..."

 **I still fall on my face sometimes and I**

 **Can't color inside the lines 'cause**

 **I'm perfectly incomplete**

 **I'm still working on my masterpiece and I**

Zeke walked around downstairs, asking people if they'd seen a blonde girl dressed in pink pants. Every answer was no. Then he saw a fellow jock. Different sports, but same status.

"Olive!" He called.

She turned around. "Zeke!" Olive smiled, fist bumping and hugging him. "What's up?"

"You know Sharpay? The drama club le-" He began.

Olive scoffed. "Oh. You mean ice queen? Yeah, what is it?"

Zeke raised a brow. "Um...look, she ran off from the group and I need to know if you've seen her...please." Olive blinked her dark eyes at him. "Oh Zeke. Please don't tell me you still have a crush on dramacakes."

Zeke was starting to lose his patience. Every second Sharpay could move around, making it harder to find her. "So what if I do? Right now, I'm not looking for her or worried about her because I like her. I'm doing that because I'm her friend."

Olive blinked. Her expression got a little darker. "You wanna know where she is?" she asked, knowing the answer. "She went outside. Before you go, about being her friend? I wanted to be her friend once. But she showed me she wasn't capable of being a friend to people who weren't like her. So don't blame me in the long run if you get burned." Olive's voice shook. She turned on her heel. "Later Zeke."

Zeke sadly looked after her before shaking his head. "Hey Olive!"

" **I wanna hang with the greats gotta**

 **Way to go, but it's worth the wait, no**

 **You haven't seen the best of me**

 **I'm still working on my masterpiece and I**

Olive turned around. "Yeah?"

"One day, who knows." He smiled. "She might surprise you."

Olive sighed, rolling her eyes and walking away. "I seriously doubt it Zeke."

(Oh oh, oh ah)

Zeke looked after her once more before quickly going to the doors that led to the fountain area.

(Oh oh, oh ah)

Sharpay looked at her reflection one more time before looking into the sky, it seemed a little clearer now. (still, workin' on, still workin' on)

"I'm still workin' on my masterpiece..." Sharpay finished, exhaling.

"SHARPAY!" She heard someone call, quickly looking up.

 **That was that my dudes, 2 more chapters and we're all caught up!**


	7. Welcome to My House (Group 1)

**(Important reoccurring) Cast break! You'll need to know for this home seq. Here are a few family members (you'll see whose in a moment)**

 **Rose Nielsen-Rose Byrne**

 **Luke Nielsen- Roshon Fegan**

 **Evan Cross- (Yet to be decided)**

 **Treble (Clef)- He's a tiny, adorable, golden Maltese 3**

 **BACK INTO THE ACTION!**

* * *

"Sharpay!"

Sharpay turned around and looked at Zeke as he approached her, looking worried and out of breath. "Yeah?" She said.

He exhaled, panting slightly. "Why...did you run?"

She crossed her arms. "Well you came after me, I figure you should know." She muttered.

Zeke looked at her. "Sharpay..." she slumped. "Shar, you know Gabriella didn't mean any of that."

"Oh but she did!" she flipped to face him and snapped. "She meant every word! So does everyone else!"

"Everyone else?" he slowly began to back up as she walked forward. The rage and hurt in her eyes were very clear.

"You don't think I used to hear your jokes? The entire basketball team- especially Chad! Ice queen, shopping for mirrors- I still don't understand that!" she exclaimed, her voice beginning to crack and move into a sob. "What does that even mean?"

Zeke looked in awe. He felt awful that they had caused her such pain in the past (and present). He hated to see her cry like this because of it...

"I can't help who I am!" Sharpay cried. "Not the way you'd like me to. One day, that piece of your personality comes in. If it's bad, you don't know how to stop it! It's a part of you." She raised a finger, still trying to keep a hard exterior, but failing. "And I have tried, so hard to keep the peace with all of you. I'm still trying! I'm trying to be the-the good friend, the one you come and cry to when you have a bad day, the one you actually want to be around!" Sharpay exclaimed. "I want to leave all those bad times behind, but some parts I can't change. Not yet anyway..." Zeke nodded, looking down. "I've forgiven all of you...for the most part." Sharpay continued as she gave a small, one-shouldered shrug. "But deep down, I know that no one has forgiven me completely. I don't think you guys ever will..."

Silence.

Sharpay let out a shaky breath. She gently turned to face the fountain, beginning to walk to it.

...

"I've forgiven you?" She heard Zeke's quiet voice say. Sharpay froze, tensing up and getting ready to cry again. She was soon hugged from behind by him, his head softly resting on top of hers.

"I see you trying Shar, I can tell you want to be nice...you've become so used to being excluded, you've forgotten how to truly let go and hang around us. You've also forgotten how it feels to be truly accepted." Sharpay nodded quickly, whimpering a little. "Well, you're accepted by me. If anyone leaves you behind, you'll always have a friend in me."

...

"So….does that mean that you'll ditch the rest of the gang?" her tiny voice asked.

Zeke laughed and replied, "Shar...that's not exactly how it works."

She frowned. "Well how does it work then?" she grumbled.

Zeke sighed with a smile, he had all the patience in the world with this girl. "It works by me being there for you during the good and bad times, no matter what anyone says."

"You don't mean that Zeke." Sharpay sighed. "I'm not as pleasant as you might think."

"Oh, I don't think that all the time. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to be your friend. Friends don't like each other all the time." She nodded gently. "That doesn't mean you have to be alone."

Sharpay turned around and hugged him back. "Zeke...thank you."

He smiled and accepted the surprise hug. "Of course."

She broke the hug, wiping her eyes and sniffling. Zeke still smiled, looking at the setting sun.

"Hey, everyone's starting to head out. Ready to go?" He offered a hand. She looked at it in disbelief before softening. She reached out, hesitated for a second, and took it.

"Yeah...let's go home."

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Ryan looked up from the table to see his twin coming in, alive and well (not that he'd worried about that in the first place. She was fine). He exhaled and picked up her purse as she approached.

"Hey, you okay?" Ryan asked gently as Sharpay took her belongings from him with a quiet nod.

"I don't think she's ready to talk yet, but I think she's gonna be okay," Zeke said.

"Thanks, Zeke." Ryan nodded his gratitude. Kelsi came into the room, back on her...foot. Ryan took her backpack, earning a smile and gentle 'thank you.'. "Mhm. Let's go, later guys!" he waved. The drama club teens left the scene.

Martha stood, grabbing her bag. "I'm ready to head out Chad, try not to kill our leader on the way home?" She joked before moving a serious look to Taylor, who was cleaning up a counter. "That girl's gonna do something great one day."

Chad blinked. "Right. Don't worry Martha, she'll be fine. If she doesn't kill me first."

Martha smirked. "Watch your back." She whispered before giving him a playful slug and walking towards the door.

"Go home." He scowled.

"That's where I'm going!" She called with a grin. She motioned to Jason, who was coming out the employee room. "Babe, let's go."

"Okay, I'm coming." He walked over, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "Later Chad!" He waved. Zeke joined him.

Chad waved to them all. "Be safe." "Thanks!" The restaurant doors closed.

Taylor came to the table, in the process of setting her low ponytail free. When she finished she blinked. "Aw! They left already?"

"They said bye?" Chad offered.

"No they didn't." Taylor said with a knowing smirk. Chad couldn't help but smirk as well. Taylor sighed. "So, ready to go home?"

He nodded. "Taylor protector at your service."

Taylor rolled her eyes slightly. "I don't need anyone to protect me Chad, and Ryan said you're here so we can protect each other."

"Whatever you say McKessie." He smirked. She sighed.

"Let's just go already." She groaned as they approached the door. He held it open, making a hand motion to her. She looked at him with narrowed eyes before going through silently.

"Wow~ you're so rude!" He called.

"Thank you Chad~!" She sang like a student greeting a teacher.

"All I ask for!"

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Martha brought her car to a stop in front of Zeke's house. "Later muffin man!" she smiled, returning the fist bump he offered her.

"Later Mar- "He saw his best friend in the front seat. "You getting out man?"

Jason turned around, shaking his head with an 'isn't an obvious voice' "This isn't my house!"

"You live like, a neighborhood or two away!" Zeke pointed out.

"That's too far! It's evening, man!"

"It's walking distance! We can walk and talk!"

Jason's eyes widened. "We do that stuff during the day! You ever heard that saying 'the freaks come out at night'? Not for me they don't. I am not the one."

"Dude the minute I get in my mom's gonna ask me to make dinner! I just spent hours making food, I'd rather wait until she does it herself this time!" Zeke groaned.

Jason quietly faced forward with crossed arms. "I don't want to."

Zeke blinked before looking back and forth at the remaining passengers. "Aaaah! I see."

"What?!" Jason said

"I see what you're doing! You two want to hang out without the third wheel! I get it!" Zeke said, in a half joking, half serious voice.

"Zeke!" Martha laughed

"Okay! I got it!" He teased, opening the door. The couple still in the car laughed.

"Zeke come on!" Jason pleaded with his best friend, laughing at his mock anger. The door closed. "Zeke!"

"No!" He made dramatic stomps to the door.

"Come on man!" Jason smiled.

"Love you Zeke!" Martha giggled.

"Humph!" Zeke said before smiling at them. "Love you guys too. Now Good _night_! Ya nasty jerks." He added with a sly grin.

"Night Zeke!" They laughed as the door closed.

Zeke chuckled to himself as he locked the door. He opened the coat closet, flipping on the light. He then picked a hanger to put his jacket on. He looked down to begin the procedure. That's when he saw-

"AGH!" Zeke screamed, very startled. He dropped his jacket in his panic. It fell on the figure with a 'WUMPH'!

 **Welcome to the Baylor home.**

"Oog! Hey!" It said/whined. 'It' had a very small, childish voice. Zeke came down from his fight or flight mode with fast, heavy breaths. They slowed down eventually. He then focused an unamused look on the fallen jacket, with odd shapes being punched and kicked in it. He lifted it off like a magician to reveal...

His five year old sister.

"Marie." He said with a very serious tone. "What are you doing in here?" He stated more than asked.

"It's not my fault!" She insisted, dark eyes looking very innocent. Whenever Marie insisted, it sounded like that bike kid from the Incredibles movie. Kind of sing-song. "Alex put me in here!"

He sighed. "Alex put you in here."

"Uh-huh!" She nodded with big eyes, her raven curls bouncing.

He sighed once again, this time with annoyance. Zeke looked further into the closet, seeing very clearly that the youngest Baylor's step stool was missing. He held out a hand to her. "Come on." Marie made a noise of effort as her brother pulled her on her feet.

Zeke's long strides across the house were outdoing her small ones, so he slowed down a bit. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Mommy's in her office on the phone with a client." She replied, as if reciting a previously given answer. Mrs. Baylor was a real estate worker, and often busy. She was fun and loving, but could be very stern when she wanted to be.

"Right. That explains why I'm not hearing Alex scream for mercy." He muttered. Marie giggled. "And Dad?"

"Daddy's still at the construction site." She said. His father was a construction worker. He often came home after seven, sometimes eight. Currently, he and his fellow workers were working on a school auditorium. Mr. Baylor was the fun parent, he loved messing with his kids.

Zeke and Marie stopped in front of a door. Before he could give a stern knock, hard and very rapid ones beat him to it.

"Alexander John Baylor you're in big trouble mister!" She said with almost hidden triumph. Her incredibly fast knocks didn't cease.

 _Someone needs to enter this girl in the talent show or something_ , Zeke thought to himself, _How is she doing this?_

"Alexander you open this door right now! We don't close doors in this house!" She spoke again. Zeke smirked quietly. It was kind of cute when Marie got mad. She was so short and her voice was so high, that she looked like a mouse demanding a lion to do it's bidding. "ALEXANDER I MEAN IT! YOU OPEN THIS DO-"

Before Zeke could tell the child to lower her voice, the door swung open to reveal ten year old Alex Baylor.

"Marie." He said with narrowed eyes, glaring at the angry child. "Why-" He smirked at her face. "What's up firecracker?"

"You're in big trouble." She growled. "I told Zeke what you did. He's not very happy you locked me in the closet. Where's my stool?!"

"Why, your stool is right here in the hall!" Alex said with a mock gasp as he spoke. Zeke and Marie looked down to their right. He was right, there was the stool.

"It belongs in the closet Ale- " Zeke began.

"You liar! That wasn't here before and you know!" Marie pointed.

"Oh really?" Alex smirked.

"You took it when you locked me in the coat closet!" She exclaimed.

Alex gasped. "Oh Marie..." he cooed, stooping to her level. "Did I lock you up in the coat closet? Poor thing, no lights and everything!" he pinched her cheeks, shaking his hands like one of those ladies who think whatever they're seeing is absolutely darling. "We're lucky you're not afraid of the dark! You couldn't even reach to get ou- "

"Zeke Aaron Baylor! Do something!" Marie demanded her other big brother.

"I was going to Marie, but you beat me to it." Zeke replied. Marie struggled to push Alex's hands away, very annoyed.

She spoke calmly, "Zeke. Did I ask you what happened then? No. I'm asking you to do something now!" Marie said with a frown. "Alexander, quit it!"

Zeke sighed. "Alex." His brother froze and stood. Alexander flashed a grin. "Zeke!" He said with open arms.

"Alex!" Zeke imitated his tone before crossing his arms. No hugs for him. Alex was in hot water. "Why'd you lock Marie in the closet?" He asked his brother.

Alex sighed. "She was only in there for like...three minutes. It's not like I wanted to keep her in there all night. She kept running in singing TV theme songs."

Zeke raised a brow. "More than one?"

Alex looked as if he was going to shudder. "More than one. So... many, actually." They both looked down at their sister. She blinked. "I was playing a game with my friends." He explained with a sigh, motioning to his Xbox. "A game that took _a lot_ of concentration." He said to Zeke but looked at Marie.

"Sorry Alex..." Marie said sincerely.

He smiled and patted her head. "It's okay, Tiny. I'm sorry too. The game is over now, we won. Wanna watch something?"

"Okay!" She smiled.

"Wait a second you two, did you eat?" Zeke asked.

"Nope." Alex smiled.

"Mom said, 'Tell Zeke to make dinner'." Marie grinned, reciting their mother's words once again.

"Great." Zeke groaned.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

At the Evans's Mansion- which was farther away from the rest of the Wildcats of course- Kelsi exhaled as she finished singing her new piece to Sharpay. Sharpay was wearing her pajamas, curled up in a hot pink saucer chair. She'd hardly spoken a word since they left the restaurant.

 **Welcome to the Evans Mansion**

"Well?" Kelsi asked nervously.

Sharpay gave a short, quiet nod. "It's good." She stood. "You should show it to Ms. Darbus. She'll find something to do with it. She always does."

"Yeah..." Kelsi laughed softly.

Sharpay stood up to take her keys from the top of the piano. "Let's get you home. I promised to have you home before 9:30."

"Okay, thanks." Kelsi said as they left the music room, heading down the hall to the stairs. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked her friend.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking though." Sharpay sighed and started down the steps. "Annabelle?" she called to one of the family's maids.

"Yes sweetheart?" A curvy brunette woman in her late 40's, replied. She'd been with the Evans since they were in middle school.

"If Mommy and Daddy come home before you leave, can you please tell them that I'm dropping off Kelsi?" She asked.

"Alright. Drive safely..." Annabelle smiled before blinking at the teen. "Darling...you're wearing your pajamas."

Sharpay nodded. "What's wrong? I'm just staying in the car."

"You don't usually-" Annabelle began before footsteps were heard. Ryan walked in eating a cookie.

"Thanks for the cookies Anna." He smiled.

"Of course!" She chirped. "I'm glad you like them!"

Before she could turn back to ask more questions, Sharpay answered her. "I'm fine Anna, I promise."

"Alright then." Annabelle smiled, leaving it at that.

Kelsi smiled at Ryan as they started towards the door and he smiled back. "Later, Kelsi." He waved.

"Bye..." She smiled and waved back. Kelsi and Sharpay left the house, heading to Sharpay's pink car. Sharpay unlocked the car and another worker by the name of Wayne opened the door for each girl.

"Thanks." Sharpay said quietly, getting in and inserting her key.

Kelsi's door closed and she went to put on her seatbelt. "Where are your parents?" She asked.

Sharpay adjusted her rearview mirror. "Dinner party. Someone important had a birthday."

"Oh." Kelsi replied. They pulled out of the driveway and left the home.

"Is your mom back yet?" Sharpay asked after a moment.

"Um...yeah. She got back about...two hours ago. She text me earlier when the jet landed. I'm texting her back now." Kelsi replied, typing on her cell phone.

"Oh, that's great." Sharpay nodded. "Glad she's home safely."

"Me too." Kelsi smiled. "Luke is probably excited to hear what happened on the trip." Luke was Kelsi's older brother, he was 25.

"Oh, I know it!" Sharpay said. They both laughed at her statement. The pair kept talking like this as they cruised down the streets of New Mexico.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Martha pulled up to Jason's house very slowly.

Jason smirked. "Martha you have to let me go."

She gave him a pout. "But I don't wanna."

He kissed her cheek and the car stopped. "Fine..." Martha groaned.

Jason smiled. "Thanks!" he opened the car door. "Night, beautiful." He waved

"Night Jason!" Martha giggled. The boy could be a doofus, but he was adorable. Jason waved one more time before opening the gate and going to the front door. He unlocked it and went inside.

A pretty hazel haired woman with red lipstick sat on the couch, writing something on one of the many papers that were near her on the coffee table. She lifted her head, noticing his entrance. "Hi, darling." She greeted him with a smile.

"Hey." He walked over to to give her a small hug from behind the couch before going to the kitchen. The kitchen was right next to the living room. A wall with an open rectangle (so you could see into the other room) separated the two.

"How was your day?" She asked.

"It was cool, how was yours?"

"Busy." She sighed, her lovely smile not once leaving her face.

"Aw, I'm sorry." He said "Where's Dad?"

She rolled her eyes. "In the basement, with his beloved piano. He's making weird faces while he plays again."

"Wow, thanks a lot." A voice said. A dark haired man walked in, wearing a tux and a smirk.

was a pianist (a very good pianist, actually). He would play at weddings, funerals, graduations, social events- you name it. He also recorded music.

"Nice song." The woman smirked back.

"Hence the weird faces." Jason's father, Evan, stuck his tongue out at her.

"Grow up." Her face scrunched up.

Who was she, exactly?

That was Rose. Rose was a beautiful, slim woman with shoulder length- as said- hazel hair. She usually had the ends flipped out instead of in like other women did. It looked fantastic on her though. Jason was related to her, but she wasn't his mom. In fact, she was-

The two looked up when they heard two soft car beeps. The door opened. "Hey, Uncle Evan and Jase. Hi Mom." Kelsi smiled at Rose.

Kelsi's mom.

 **Welcome to the Cross-Nielsen Home**

"Hi, darling!" Rose smiled, Kelsi gave her a hug after giving Evan her crutches.

"How was the trip?" Kelsi asked when they broke apart, moving to the couch. A small golden Maltese ran up to her, causing her to gasp in delight. "Hey Treble!" she greeted her dog, with a proud smile.

"Great, actually!" Rose said. "The new products look great and Jordan is working very nicely! She's so mature, professional, and excellent in her work might I add. You can see the pride in her father's eyes." Rose smiled. Rose was the secretary to the wealthy CEO of a company called, McKessie Enterprises.

Oh yes. You read that right.

 _McKessie Enterprises_ , a business owned by Tyler McKessie (but more on him later).

"Luke was so bummed that he had to stay behind this time." Kelsi snickered, letting Treble Clef run off again.

Rose made a sympathetic puppy face. "Aw...where is he?" She looked around. The back door opened. A tall, darker haired boy came in. He looked exhausted, but he smiled at everyone anyway.

"Oh, hey mom! When did you come home?" He gave her a hug before moving to give Kelsi one. "Hey, Kels."

"Hey! Two hours ago." Kelsi whispered.

"Oooh..." Luke winced. "I'm sorry mom, I got distracted. I have an idea that I really think Mr. McKessie will like." He explained, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

"He likes all of your ideas sweetheart." She smiled, Luke beamed at this.

Luke had a smile that made you think he was a salesman, but it was genuine. His skin was a bit darker, (tan if you will?) than Kelsi's. He was 25 years old with a passion for changing the world and he loved making new gadgets to use, currently for himself or the house. Though he was an adult, Luke still lived with his family. They had small two guest homes on the property. One home was for Jason and his dad, and the other was for Luke. Luke's ideas and inventions usually resided in his 'office'. He worked with his mom at McKessie Enterprises, but it was currently as an apprentice. Tyler McKessie loved the way he thought, and the McKessie's had known him since he was little. They were best friends with Rose back in high school and hadn't separated since. So whenever there was a checkup at the company's base, Rose would take Luke and Tyler would take his daughter Jordan. The two were future team members (two smart and creative future team members). However, this time Luke stayed due to another gadget. It happened a few times.

"So how's Jordan?" Luke asked his mother.

"She's smarter and prettier by the day." Rose smiled. "One more year of college and she'll be working beside you until she begins to take over for her father." Jordan was 20 years old and attended the University of Albuquerque.

Luke nodded. "Great! Now, I'm starving. Who wants dinner?"

"I do!" Jason, Kelsi, Rose, and Evan replied.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Martha dropped her bag on the couch before heading to her room. She really wanted to take a nap. However, that was soon denied when her almost closed door was knocked open with a karate kick.

"HeeeeYA!" A slightly high female voice sounded. Martha's head snapped up. That voice belonged to someone she knew very well.

"HanNAH!" Martha groaned before flipping around to look at the culprit.

 **Welcome to the Cox household.**

"Hi hi!" She waved. Hannah was a redhead, but it was so dark people often saw it as brown from afar. Her hair was down and curled, reaching her shoulder blades. Her pearly smile ever present, red lipstick making it more clear.

"Wh _aaaaaa_!" She heard another silly voice, slightly lower. The voice came with another female, slowly somersaulting into her room.

"Adrien!" Martha protested to the other one. The other girl stood.

"Hey, sis." She winked. Adrien Cox had regular brown hair. She wore it in a fishtail braid that went over her shoulder. Her smile was usually small, and gentle.

They were fraternal, they were 25, and they were the Cox twins.

They were also gymnasts.

Very good gymnasts.

Hannah jumped onto the bed. "We're home for the week and you come home to take a NAP? You didn't even say hello! That's so rude!" They were full of energy at the moment.

"Mom and Dad went to the store to get some snacks. "Adrien said, being the calmer one of the two, her voice was softer. "We're gonna watch a movie as a _family_ when they get home. So get up and come help us bring blankets to the living room."

"I'm tired guys! I've been out all day!" Martha tried to reason with her sisters. They stared at her.

"Fine then." Hannah pouted, sticking her nose in the air before slamming the mattress with her hands and army growling. "WE NEVER SLEEP!"

"CAUSE SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!" Adrien replied, "WE NEVER SLEEP!"

"CAUSE SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!"

"You guys!" Martha whined.

"WE NEVER SLEEP! CAUSE SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!" The twins chanted, full of energy. They must have slept on their flight from Michigan. They went to Michigan State University. They were attending on a gymnastics scholarship. Both twins were majoring in sports medicine. "WE NEVER SLEEP! CAUSE SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!" They continued.

Martha groaned. "NO!" Adrien and Hannah pouted.

"Pleeeeeeease?" They chorused to their younger sibling.

Martha blew her bangs from her face with narrowed eyes. "Fine."

"YAY!" They cheered and hugged her. Martha couldn't help but smile a little.

"Welcome home, you two."

This was gonna be a long night.

 **Please Review! Next up, our main 4! Anyone up for a Troyella fluff?**


	8. VERY IMPORTANT Series Note

_**Read this Note Everyone xD**_

 **Note: The following author notes are old but I don't feel like editing and deleting. SO if you guys see old notes, it's because I'm trying to work on the actual chapter lol. Some of them are important though so I would advise reading them (especially the extremely important one coming up). It's literally so important that I just separated the next chapter from it so you guys can pay attention to it xD.**

 **Old Note:** *Smiles* Happy New Year lovelys. That is all. See you at the bottom! Well, WildatsLabyrinth2018, thanks for reviewing! I promised you fluff, AND FLUFF YOU SHALL HAVE! Oh. I forgot a cast break.

 **Diana McKessie- Jennifer Hudson**

 **Tyler McKessie- Jamie Foxx**

 **Jordan McKessie- Gabrielle Union**

 **Natalie Gonzalez is played by Phoebe Tonkin.**

 **(Mr. and Mrs. Danforth already have been seen in HSM3 so I won't cast them)**

 **I'll do a full casting page soon so I don't have to keep doing this.**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE 2019:** This series could be classified as a musical series. I mean, the movie was a musical so nothing should be too different y'know? It'll be fine (it's worked on the AU stories so far. No one has complained, I've actually seen the opposite lol).

Some episodes will have musical scenes, some won't. When there IS a musical scene, I would 100% advise listening to the song while reading. There is actually a Spotify for this to make it easier for you guys! It made me smile on The Wedding Planner when I saw how many of you guys went to the link I put up. It was amazing and my heart grew 3 sizes. So I made a Spotify account (Username is ADSPC) with the soundtracks for each season with the songs (so far, subject to change) in order (also subject to change). The link for _this season_ is on my profile, so go check that out before reading further.

 **Anyways, in this story, you saw Masterpiece. Now it is time for the second song, If I Never Knew You from Pocahontas. THIS VERSION IS JON SECADA AND SHANICE. THIS SONG WILL COME BACK LATER IN THE FOLLOW-UP SERIES 'GROW UP' BUT IN A DIFFERENT VERSION. So it's very important to have the right one xD.**

 **I** **n this series (and those that follow), 3 asterisks (***) beside a line mean to start the song if you're using it xDD.**

 **Have fun! Thanks for reading!**


	9. My House (Group 2) If I Never Knew You

**Link to Season 1's Playlist: (open dot spotify dot com slash)** user/ynqdxbe00t5c9pyz8nzv2ajoz/playlist/2sTuLU8SeaYezKhYBQ7wbX?si=BxlzrbBjQfSJXQ1aeMchqQ

And if that didn't show up on the doc guys (websites usually don't and I have class in a bit so I'm not coming back just to check that lol), just follow ADSPC on Spotify and click on 16andUp Season 1 soundtrack xD. The song will be there.

The song is: **If I Never Knew You** by **Jon Secada and Shanice**

 **(***) means to start the song.**

Have fun!

* * *

Thank goodness the bus had arrived. The 5 minutes of awkward silence with moments of Chad messing with Taylor had become annoying to her and boring to him. When they boarded the bus, their eyes widened. It was crowded more than it usually was. There wasn't an empty seat in sight. Even the standing poles had people hanging onto them. Each pole was occupied except for one in the middle of the vehicle. They'd have to share and hold on. Chad and Taylor shuffled through to the pole, each latching a hand onto it. The bus doors closed and they were off.

Chad was a little taller than Taylor so his hand was on the upper half of the pole. Taylor took the lower half and the two tried to keep their hands off of each other's.

After two minutes, Chad whispered to Taylor, "Where is everyone even going?"

"I don't know…" She looked around the bus discreetly. "They don't seem to be in a group?"

"Yeah, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that guy over there isn't with that young lady." Chad whispered back, discreetly motioning over to the back of the bus.

A woman wearing a dress had her legs crossed, her thumb typing away on her phone. A guy who looked older and if they were being honest) not his complete right mind, started to-

"Oh my gosh, is he smelling her neck?!" Taylor hissed under her breath in alarm.

"That's weird. What should we do? Can we do something? Does she not feel this?!" Chad hissed with equally wide eyes.

"It _has_ to be cold as heck. That's an inhale in January." Taylor cringed

"Hello!" Chad squeaked quietly as the guy's lips almost touched the woman's neck.

Suddenly the man yelped due to the woman had stepping on his foot with her heel. Taylor and Chad's tried to hold in their snickers when the woman stared at her phone as if nothing had happened at all.

"That was great!" Taylor laughed.

"Sh!" Chad teased. She giggled some more before playfully punching him. After a minute or two of messing around, they cleared their throats. The rest of the ten minute drive went by uneventfully. The bus came to a stop.

"This is my stop." Taylor said.

"Oh, okay. Goodnight Taylor." Chad said as she moved towards the front of the bus to go down the stairs.

"Goodnight. Oh and, Danforth?" Taylor called.

"Yeah?"

"I got off the bus first. Proving, that I was the one protecting you." She smirked triumphantly.

"Wait. Hey!" Chad called in protest as the doors closed. Taylor watched as the bus drove away before starting to walk to her house. She sighed and put her key in the door, turning it and walking inside.

"Mom, I'm home!" She called out, closing the door.

"Taylor, is that you?" She heard in response.

"Well Mom, everyone else is home except Taylor. So yeah, that would have to be her." Taylor heard another voice say. Taylor gave a small smirk at that comment, walking further into the house.

Her mother, Diana McKessie, walked into the room. "Hi darling!" she smiled at her youngest daughter. Diana wore a black dress and matching heels. Her long and dark brown hair curled against her shoulders. The dress hugged her slim but curvy figure quite nicely.

"Hey, Mom!" Taylor smiled, giving her a hug.

"Hi sweetheart!" Diana smiled fondly, gently kissing her forehead.

 **Welcome To The McKessie Household**

Taylor gently pulled away with a smile. "So, I thought I heard Jordan. Is Dad with her?"

Diana nodded. "They came home a while ago, they're working still, but not as hard. They're in your father's office so you can say hi. As a matter of fact, I was just in there. Why don't you join us?" Taylor smiled and nodded and Diana offered her hand. Taylor took it and they made their way around the corner to a room with double glass doors. Window coverings made the area inside invisible. Diana knocked and - or Tyler- opened the door.

"Hi, princess!" He smiled to Taylor, giving her a hug.

"Daddy!" Taylor squealed. Diana smiled, going into the office.

Tyler and Taylor broke apart from their hug, causing Taylor to see her older sister Jordan, who was 20.

"Hey, Tay!" Jordan grinned, looking up from her laptop. She had her legs crossed, her black heels still on her feet. Jordan wore black dress pants accompanied by a black shirt. A blue overcoat completed the outfit perfectly. Like their mother, she too, had long dark brown hair that curled against her shoulders.

"JJ!" Taylor hugged her. Jordan laughed. "How was your trip?" Taylor smiled breathlessly. She hadn't seen Tyler and Jordan in a week.

"Excellent, we saw a lot of new things." Tyler smiled. "Luke and Jordan were funny though. Jordan called Luke after and told him about all the new products we saw. I could hear his voice through the phone!" He laughed.

"He sounded like a hyper puppy!" Jordan laughed.

Luke and Jordan were close despite the five year age difference. Jordan was next in line to take over the company for her father, which she would start to do at the age of 25. When she was ready- and when Tyler thought she was ready- she would step up. Luke wanted to work for the company one day as well and showed a great interest in creating new things. Due to him being his secretary/ best friend's son, Tyler was fond of the boy and decided to train him for a high position alongside Jordan. The two trainees had known each other her entire life and shared a fascination for the new inventions at Tyler's company every time they went to check on it's headquarters in New York.

What was his company?

McKessie Enterprises. It was a company where new inventors grouped with Tyler McKessie- who was an inventor himself- to make their dreams come to life. A lot of the inventions went to the upper class though. They could afford cool stuff like that. Well, the upper class and the McKessies themselves.

"No fair! I wish I could have gone." Taylor groaned.

Jordan gave an evil cackle. "You're too little! You have school and I did my classwork in New York. So I got to be with the cool stuff. That's just how it is sis."

"Jordan!" Diana playfully slapped her leg. Taylor gave a triumphant laugh and Tyler smiled as he stood next to his wife's chair. She looked up at him and they both smirked.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Chad stepped off the bus, his face still scrunched from Taylor's earlier remark. He walked up to his doorstep before opening the front door to his home.

A small but joyful gasp sounded.

"Chad!" He heard a squeal. A little girl with shoulder length curly hair and overalls came running at him full speed. That little girl would be his four year old sister Christine.

 **Welcome to the Danforth Home.**

Chad felt something on his leg, it was Christine. He looked down at her to see that she had started frowning.

"Is something wrong, big brother?" She blinked her big brown eyes up at him. Chad had realized he was still frowning.

He laughed. "Sorry, Christine, Taylor was getting on my nerves." Even the four year old knew of the loathing (although fading due to their friendship) between the two.

"Oh, good!" She exhaled. "I thought it was me."

"No, sunshine." He picked her up and she cuddled into his shoulder.

"There you are, princess!" Chad's father, Charlie Danforth, said as he came into the living room. "You ran off at the speed of light."

"Dad! Chris!" Chad heard a voice that belonged to his 12 year old brother James. "Can you come back? I'm starving!" He whined.

"Now James, you are not starving. Don't be dramatic." Chad heard a chuckle, belonging to his mother Elizabeth Danforth.

"Chill, James." He teased.

"Never!" James laughed. "Hey Chad. Hurry and get in here please. Mom made pie." James loved pie.

"Hold on champ." Charlie smirked. He placed a hand on Chad's back. "So, how was practice?"

"Um…" Chad thought. "There wasn't practice today, just meetings. Troy and I met with the guys at lunch and I handled my guys during free period." Chad said. By his guys he meant the baseball team. There Chad wasn't co-captain, he was _the_ captain.

"That's good." Charlie nodded. "You're gonna kill it this season right?"

"Of course." Chad grinned.

"My brother always kills it." Christine said as if it were obvious.

"Tell him, Chris." Chad beamed at his little sister.

Charlie fist bumped Chad. "That's my boy."

"Charlie! Chad!" Eliza called out. "Please come eat, James is about to make like a racoon with this pie." They looked at each other. Christine included.

Chad started running, holding squealing Christine like a football kind of. "James!"

"Come eat!"James exclaimed. Charlie laughed, walking to the kitchen.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Troy sighed as he logged off his station at Best Buy so one of the adult workers could get it.

"Man, that was busy." He blinked. It was a month after Christmas, so maybe these were the late returners. Either way, Troy's brain felt like he'd been running a race, and when he'd finally won, all the pain and exhaustion became evident.

"Hey Troy." He heard. Troy turned around to see Natalie.

"Hey Natalie!" He gave a weak smile. "What's up?"

"I just had to return something for my dad." She explained, motioning to . "I forgot that you worked here, actually."

"Um, yeah!" Troy smiled. "I started last…. August, I think!"

"Oh, that's great!" Natalie replied. "I remember hearing that. I think you had a celebration at the diner with your...friends...that day. Amber mentioned that she saw you guys there." She cleared her cheerleaders and jocks were close in middle school. That was one of the main reasons why they enforced the status quo so much during freshman year on. With everyone beginning to mix, the group wasn't as cool or 'tight' as they would have liked to be. Some of them still believed statuses shouldn't mix. Natalie was in between but tended to gravitate towards the old way. Ever since Gabriella had come around, Troy seemed to want to hang out with her and Amber less...it sucked.

She began to speak again, looking down a little. "Hey, um…" she looked up at him again, "A few of us are having a party at my place... two Saturdays from now? It's my birthday party."

Troy thought. "I don't know, Nat….a lot could happen between now and then. I'll have to check my schedules."

Natalie groaned. "Troy...we never hang out anymore."

"I know...I'm sorry about that." He sighed. He really did feel bad about it, but he wasn't sure what to do.

"Ever since you met that nerd girl-" She began, Troy started to protest but she kept talking, "You, Chad and the others have been so distant." She continued. "She's nice, don't get me wrong. But...we miss hanging around you guy-"

"Troy!" He heard, Natalie sighed in defeat. Gabriella walked up with a bright and bubbly smile. She was waving a small paper bag at him as she walked over. "Hey Wildcat!" she greeted her boyfriend.

"Hey, sweetheart." He smiled, hooking an arm around her waist. "Whatcha got there?" he tickled her sides a little, causing her to giggle.

"Hey!" Gabi laughed before clearing her throat and resuming her previous posture. "Hi Natalie…" she said softly with a kind smile.

Natalie gave a soft nod up. "Gabriella."

Gabiella blinked. It was normal that the cheerleaders didn't like her, but it still stung. Natalie at least said hello, but Gabriella could tell that her presence still irked the girl. Natalie's dark eyes were focused on Gabriella. Her eyes were enchanting dark pools that could tempt even the most loyal man. Her dark hair was tucked underneath a hat she wore atop her head, the ends curled slightly against her shoulders neatly. She was perfect and everyone knew it. The girls at school sometimes called Natalie 'The snake' because she would 'slither' her way around school with her curvy hips softly swaying, hazel eyes ever confident, and presence naturally seductive. The boys practically kissed the ground that she walked on, no matter what status they were. Even if she would coldly brush them off, it was worth it just to be acknowledged by her. The jocks were really the only ones with chances. Like Troy…but the cheerleaders were like their best friends. Gabriella doubted that any of the boys in the group would actually consider dating them.

What was Natalie talking to Troy about anyway?

Natalie suddenly broke the stillness, straightening up again. She wore a form fitting blue shirt that suited her very nicely. She looked down at it, noticed how one side of the shirt's hem was higher than the other, and went to pull it down for an even adjustment.

She looked at him to see Troy blink, completely unfazed. "Whatcha got there, Gabs?"

Gabriella blinked and held a bag out to him. "I stopped at Subway on the way here, I thought you might be hungry so I got you what you normally get. I figured we could ride the bus together and walk home." She smiled.

"Sweet!" Troy's face lit up. "Isn't she the best?!" he smooshed Gabi's face, joking to Natalie.

"The greatest!" Natalie laughed. However, he still looked somewhat irked by Gabriella's presence. Gabriella began to think to herself again, zoning out of the conversation Natalie and Troy had started about an upcoming game.

 _"Why didn't Troy date Natalie? They get along so well… Would they have gotten together if I hadn't come to East High?"_ She thought. Suddenly, Natalie laughed and playfully slapped Troy's arm.

"Shut up! You're putting those bad thoughts in the air! Then we'll lose!" She exclaimed.

"I'm just saying, another blackout could happen!" Troy laughed back. "What if West High is all like 'Keep playing losers! Let's get em while the lights are off and-'-"

"Shut up!" Natalie laughed and Troy pulled her into a friendly hug, she hit at his chest playfully. Natalie smiled at the gesture and hugged him back.

When Gabriella saw how content Natalie looked as she hugged her boyfriend, at first she felt a pang of jealousy and possessiveness. What Gabriella did _not_ expect to feel however, was guilt.

Natalie gently slugged Troy. "Alright, don't keep her waiting. I'll see you at school, okay?"

"Yeah." Troy smiled at her. "Come on, Gabi." he held his girlfriend's hand and started walking out.

"Text me if you can come!" Natalie called out, hugging herself and hoping he'd heard her. She sighed, going to get her stuff and drive home.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Gabi and Troy waited at the bus stop again. Troy was humming 'Getcha Head In The Game'. For a clique that wasn't into musicals, the basketball team made some nice impromptu songs. Gabriella quietly tapped her foot along with his humming before they both started slightly bouncing side to side, launching into small discreet dance moves.

Troy reached the end of the song. "You gotta getcha getcha getcha getcha head in the game-"

"Whooooo." They both whispered aloud. Troy laughed and pulled Gabriella close to him, nuzzling his face into her head a little. Gabriella sighed happily into his embrace. Then, she thought about Natalie.

Gabriella tensed as she thought of how pretty she was and how she was _exactly_ in Troy's league. When he was with her, they always got weird stares and judgement. If he was with Natalie, he wouldn't have to deal with anything like that. She couldn't deny that they'd make a cute couple. So why didn't he just date her instead?

Troy looked down at Gabi when he noticed that she was frowning. "Gab?" Troy asked softly.

"Yeah?" she whispered.

"What's wrong?"

…

"What were you talking to Natalie about?" Gabriella asked quietly. "She looked upset when I walked up and I didn't want to make her sad...or mad...or both."

"It was nothing, really. I don't think it bothered Nat too much, you didn't know. Besides, she was just inviting me to a party that's all." He replied.

"A party?"

Troy blinked, trying to remember what Natalie had been saying. "Um..yeah something about us not hanging out since the rule change and us drifting apart? I don't even know if I'll go-" his eyes widened in shock when he heard a sniffle. "Gabriella?!" He held her at arm's length and saw a tear roll down her cheek. "Gabi, what's wrong?"

She wiped her eyes. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to take you from your old friends…"

"Oh, Gabi…" He cooed, rubbing her cheek softly with his thumb. "I chose to do that. I didn't mean to drift that far, but Nat and I are still friends. Everyone is still friends."

"But you used to be close!" Gabriella pointed out. "When I came to the school, everything changed." she looked away.

"For the better!" Troy insisted, making her look at him again.

"No, Troy, not completely. Friend groups fell apart and even more separation happened. All because a jock and a brainiac fell in love." She grumbled. "You gave up a few things to be with me too."

Troy stared at her. "Is there something wrong with that?" he asked quietly.

She looked away. "Well...sometimes I think that it would have been better if we hadn't met." she confessed. ******* (Reminder since it's the first run: Start the song now if you have it up. Also, italics and bold mean that there's a flashback scene. Bold is the song, italics is the flashback.)

Troy's eyes widened. "Gabriella...no." he gently turned her face to him again. "Don't ever think that."

"And why not?" Gabriella asked softly.

"Because meeting you...it changed me. Believe me, it was for the better. It changed so many others too." He said softly. "Without you...I'd still be lost."

She looked at him in awe. Troy took a breath, looking into her eyes. "Gabi…"

"If I never knew you, if I never felt this love, I would have no inkling of- how precious life can be…." he sang softly. He gently pulled Gabriella closer to him again. "And if I never held you, I would never have a clue, how at last, I'd find in you-" He looked at her again, chuckling softly, almost in disbelief. "The missing part of me…in this world so full of fear- full of rage and lies…" He tilted her head up to look at him. "I can see the truth so clear, in your eyes, so dry your eyes." He wiped her tears, swaying softly. "And I'm so grateful to you. I'd have lived my whole life through~ lost forever, If I never knew you…" Gabriella cuddled into him.

She inhaled before singing with him. "If I never knew you, I'd be safe but half as real. Never knowing I could feel, A love so strong and true…." She looked up at him. "I'm so grateful to you. I'd have lived my whole life through~ lost forever. If I never knew you…" Troy smiled at her.

"I thought our love would be so beautiful…" Troy said.

"Somehow we'd make the whole world bright." Gabriella shrugged at him.

They looked away with eyes of concern. "I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong. All they'd leave us where these whispers in the night." Troy and Gabriella sang before looking back at each other and nodding. "But still my heart is singing, we were right."

 **"If I never knew you,"**

 **(There's no moment I regret)**

 _They remembered when they were at the park. Gabi had been swinging. Troy grinned as he pushed her._

 _"Troy! Troy too high!" Gabriella giggled and screamed._

 _"Oh, sorry babe!" He blinked, realizing just how high she was going. He then smiled at her laughter. She was amazing._

" **If I never knew this love,"**

 **(Since the moment that we met)**

 _Troy made a slam dunk and the buzzer went off. The Wildcats had won yet another game._

 _"YEAH!" The rest of the team screamed as the gym erupted into chaos._

 _Troy felt someone slam into him, hugging him tightly. He looked down to see his beautiful girlfriend grinning at him._

 _"You did it!" She jumped up and down._

 _"I did!" He laughed._

 _"Oh my gosh, I'm so proud of you!" Gabi hugged him again._

 _Troy smiled and hugged her back, resting his head on hers. "I love you." he said sincerely._

 _Gabriella smiled up at him. "I love you too, wildcat."_

" **I would have no inkling of"**

 **(If our time has gone too fast, I've lived at last.)**

" **How precious life can be"**

 _Gabriella slammed her buzzer during a class game. "The answer is Pi!" She grinned._

 _"Correct!" Their teacher beamed._

 _"Yeah! That's my girlfriend!" Troy cheered and pointed at Gabriella as she moved back to her seat, a blush coloring her cheeks._

 _"We know, Troy. Sit down." Chad groaned from behind him._

 _"Never." He whispered._

 _"Troy sit down."_

 _"Yes Mrs. Johnson."_

 **"I thought our love would be so beautiful. Somehow we made the whole world bright."**

 _Troy and Gabi walked through the halls, holding hands. It was happy and peaceful until they walked past the rest of the Jock's lockers._

 _"There they go." One of the basketball players by the name of Jake sighed._

 _"I don't get this." Amber grumbled. Natalie rolled her eyes. She was in mean queen mode but her eyes were sad._

 _"This isn't how any of this is supposed to be." Ian- another basketball player- sighed._

 _Gabriella looked down before pulling and speed walking away from Troy._

" **I thought our love would be so beautiful. We'd turn the darkness into light."**

 _Troy found her hiding by the bathroom. He hugged her close and said, "Hey...don't pay attention to any of them. They don't know how to accept change."_

 _"Yeah, change," Gabriella mumbled sadly._

 _"It's a great change." Troy smiled. "Look at how happy others are." He pointed to a set of lockers where a skater high fived a drama teen. The pair laughed, enjoying each others company. Gabriella smiled at the sight._

 _"All of this is because of you, beautiful," Troy said gently._

 _"Thanks, Troy." Gabriella sighed, hugging him._

" **And still my heart is singing, we were right."**

" **We were right."**

"And If I never knew you-" Troy looked and saw the bright lights of the bus approaching. "I'd have lived my whole life through…"

Gabriella sighed softly, nuzzling into Troy. "Empty as the sky…"

The couple looked at each other and laughed, shaking their heads. "Never knowing why…"

"Lost, forever, if I never knew…. " They whispered as the bus stopped. They gave each other's hands a gentle squeeze but kept their eyes on the doors. "You…" the doors opened and they boarded the bus.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Gabriella waved as Troy left the bus stop when they got off. Soon, he entered his house where his parents Jack and Lucille Bolton were waiting for him. The Boltons need no introduction needed, they're a well-known family.

Nevertheless, **Welcome to the Bolton Home**

"Hi, honey." Lucille smiled as he kissed her on the cheek. She was making a salad.

"Hey, Dad. Hey, Mom." Troy smiled. "Can I help?"

"Sure!" Lucille beamed, handing her son lettuce and a cutting board.

Jack gave a sly smile. "We leave school at the same time kiddo. It took you longer to get home from work than usual. Did dream girl stop by?" Lucille smirked at her husband's question.

Troy blushed. He looked at his dad and placed some tomatoes on the table near him. "You can help wash, Dad." His parents laughed.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

Gabriella walked into the kitchen of her home. She saw her mother and uncle standing at the island counter that had a few papers on it. They looked up with surprised faces when they noticed her entry before giving her warm smiles.

"Hey, Mom. Hey Uncle. What's up?" She smiled.

"Hey, kiddo." Her uncle, Antonio (or Tony), smiled softly.

"Hi, honey." Her mom gave a weaker smile. "How was school?" Isabella asked.

"It was good. Um...is something wrong?" Gabriella blinked before being met with a moment of silence. Gabriella's eyes moved to the island where she saw a letter for her mother. She picked it up and read some of it before her eyes widened. Gabriella then looked back up to stare at her mother. "What is this? She whispered.

Isabella took a breath before answering her, "Gabriella, I think I found another job…" She said softly.

 **Welcome to the Montez home…**

Or house.

 **Leaping Lizards, that was the last remodeled chapter! We're finally all caught up with the old version! I only own my OC's and ideas, so obviously I don't own things like Subway and Best Buy xD.**

 **Anyways, thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you think! It's a wonderful motivation source and would be much appreciated. Thanks WildcatsLabyrinth2018 for your review! More to come!**


	10. Night Changes

**In this chapter, we look into the lives of some of the other characters (specifically, the Nielsen family and Jordan McKessie). Enjoy the chapter!**

It was later in the evening when Taylor walked downstairs to the living room and saw her sister typing away on her laptop. Taylor announced her presence by gently clearing her throat, causing Jordan to look up.

"Hey." Taylor smiled softly.

"Hey." Jordan smiled back with tired eyes. "Shouldn't you be in bed? You have school tomorrow."

"I know. I just wanted to say goodnight because I know you'll have class by the time I get back tomorrow." Taylor explained, walking over to lean down and rest on the frame of the couch. "What are you up to?"

Jordan looked at her laptop screen. "Um…." she hummed, gently rubbing her eyes. "I have a paper due tomorrow so I'm just adding the finishing touches. I'm also looking over a project proposal that one of Dad's employees sent in."

"You're in on that whole process now?" Taylor asked, looking at her sister.

"Yep." Jordan answered, scrolling down the document. "Indeed I am."

"That's great, congratulations." Taylor said, impressed. "What's this one about?"

"I believe it's a flying toaster." Jordan answered with slow nods.

" _Oh_."

"Uh-huh."

"Do you um...Do you think it will make it?" Taylor asked, trying to hide her amused tone.

"Oh, not in the slightest." Jordan replied with a laugh. "It doesn't seem safe at all. Though a vast majority of people enjoy the idea of breakfast in bed, the model could use some work."

"From the looks of it, it's basically being held up by a metallic version of one of those spinners that you see on top of those rainbow hats." Taylor scrunched up her nose in doubt of the design.

Jordan looked up to give her a fond smile, "Propeller hat, hon."

"Whatever you say." Taylor laughed. "Night JJ, love you. Good luck with your paper, and the propeller toaster."

"Night Tay, love you too." Jordan laughed with her. "Sweet dreams." She said as Taylor walked to the staircase. Jordan slightly frowned to herself and thought for a moment.

"Hey, Tay?" Jordan called quietly.

"Yeah?" Taylor replied, turning to look at her curiously.

"...Do you think that I'm meant to take over the company? Honestly?" She asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious."

Taylor thought for a moment. "Well, you've been training for it for practically your entire life." She replied. "Why wouldn't you be?"

Jordan gave a light shrug and answered, "I don't know."

Taylor looked at her older sister with a curious and slightly concerned look in her eyes. "Is there...something you want to talk about?" She asked.

"No, I'm good." Jordan said with a warm smile. "Just checking."

Taylor smiled back and said, "You'll be great. I know you will. You're _you_."

Jordan nodded. "Thanks, sis."

"Of course. Night." Taylor waved.

"Night…" Jordan waved back before going back to her work. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours before Jordan had completed her tasks. When she knew she was done for the night, Jordan checked the time on a nearby wall clock. It was 10 PM. Jordan sighed, gently rubbing her temples before shutting her laptop. Then, she stood and picked up her heels from earlier, going upstairs. Though she soon entered her room and put her laptop down, Jordan was not checking in for the night quite yet. She had an errand to run.

Jordan went to her closet and knelt down to replace her heels for a pair simple black sneakers on her shoe rack. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her.

"Night, baby girl." Diana said softly, pecking her forehead. Jordan flinched, giving a tiny squeak.

"Mom!" She whined. "Don't do that!"

Diana laughed. "Sorry, honey." she smiled. "Your class ends at 5:15 tomorrow right?" Jordan nodded. "Alright, I'll see you then. Remember that it's movie night okay? We start at 8. Night, dear. I love you!"

"Okay, mom. Night, love you too!" Jordan smiled as she left the room. She finished tying her shoes and stood up, walking to retrieve her purse from her window seat across the room. Once she grabbed it, Jordan blinked when she realized that she was missing an item that she needed to leave. She looked underneath one of the seat's pillows before groaning quietly and closing her eyes. "Oh no...I'm gone for a week and I forget where I put it. Great." she sighed to herself. Her eyes caught her desk, and she sighed again with relief. "Oh, there it is." She walked over and picked up a thick textbook.

Tyler walked in to say goodnight but stopped when he saw his daughter still dressed with her purse over her shoulder. "Hi, honey. Where are you going?" he asked.

Jordan smiled. "Hi, Daddy." She gave him a hug. "Nick needs me to drop off his textbook. He left it in the library before we left last Friday." she rolled her eyes.

"That's Nick for you." Tyler smirked.

"Don't I know it." Jordan smirked back.

Nick- or Nicholas- Kamrin was a guy in a few of Jordan's courses that she tutored for part time. He was quite reckless. He fell asleep in class, procrastinated on his homework until the last minute, was a super flirt, snuck into places, and held the craziest parties. He was pretty well-known around campus. However, when his parents threatened to cut him off if his grades didn't improve, of course he decided to buckle down (somewhat). He pleaded with the most intelligent girl in his class (Jordan Timberley McKessie) to help him understand the course content, and she agreed. She had been his tutor for a few months, and they got along fairly well, even though they were polar opposites.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Tyler asked.

"Well, apparently there's some barbeque tonight at the boys' dorm? Trinity and Trish will be there and they want me to say hi before I go. It would depend on the length of our conversation. I'd say….an hour at most?" Jordan guessed.

"Alright then." Tyler smiled. "I know you'll make good choices. Try to turn off the alarm quickly when you come in? I'm going to bed. Love you."

"Sure thing, Dad." Jordan nodded. "Night, love you too." He held out his fist for a fist bump and Jordan accepted the gesture. Tyler went off to bed and Jordan went to the garage to take her car over to the university.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

"Kelsi, Luke, there's a call for you in the office!" Rose called downstairs to the siblings, who were watching television together. They paused their show and made their way to the upstairs office. When they got there, Luke and Kelsi smiled at the face they saw in the warm glow of the computer screen.

"Hi Dad." They greeted the man their mother had previously been video chatting with.

"Hey, you guys!" Michael Nielsen smiled. "How has everything been?"

"Good!" They answered in unison.

Michael Nielsen and Julia Cross were in the military. The two were currently stationed overseas in Afghanistan and hadn't seen their families in about a year. They both tried to call their families at least once a week. Monday was typically 'call day' in the Nielsen-Cross home. In fact, at Evan and Jason's house, Jason was currently speaking to his mother as well. Call day was the best way to begin the week.

"So, how do you guys want to do this? Do you want to take turns while you're both in the room or just talk separately?" He asked. Luke and Kelsi looked at each other.

"Do you want to talk separately?" Luke asked his sister.

"I'd be fine with that." Kelsi nodded. "Can I go first though? I have school in the morning."

"Sure." Luke nodded. He turned and gave Michael a single wave, "I'll see you in a little, Dad."

"Okay, see you soon." Michael said with a thumbs up. Once he left, Michael gave his daughter a smirk.

"First things first, kiddo." He said. "Why did I see you hobble in here on crutches?"

"Mom didn't tell you?" Kelsi blinked in surprise.

"Well, she told me that you injured yourself but I can't remember the details. She said you broke your leg?" He asked.

"I twisted my ankle, actually." Kelsi answered. "It wasn't fun."

"It doesn't look fun." Michael replied. "How did it happen?"

"Logically, I fell down the bus stairs when I came home from camp." Kelsi explained. "Illogically, I was a casualty of Troy's birthday curse."

"Birthday curse?" Her father raised an eyebrow. "What birthday curse?"

"Well, it was Troy's birthday on the day we came home so the gang made him a birthday cupcake with a candle. When it was time for him to make a wish, he wished that from this year on out that we lead pleasant lives. However, he said the wish out loud. Everyone knows you don't say your wishes out loud." Kelsi said with a playful sigh.

"Oh yeah, definitely." Michael agreed.

"So right after that, when I got off the bus, I _coincidentally_ slipped and twisted my ankle. Some of the others think that the wish might have had something to do with it." Kelsi explained.

"Hm. That _is_ a strange coincidence." Michael admitted. "However, I don't think there's much to that theory. What about you?"

"I don't either." Kelsi laughed.

"Well that's good." Michael laughed with her. "So, besides your fall...how was camp?"

Kelsi gave her father a warm smile. "It was _awesome_."

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

When Jordan entered the party house for the night (one of the campus Fraternity houses), she quickly felt overwhelmed by the amount of people attending. How would she find Nick to give him his book, or _anyone_ she knew for that matter? Then she heard:

"Is that Jojo?!"

Jordan could hear the smile in the person's voice before they- _she_ \- walked up. Her name was Trinity Clark, and like Jordan, she was also African American (although on the lighter side). Trinity was an absolute sweetheart and one of Jordan's two closest friends. She and Jordan weren't too different from one another in personality. Trinity was quieter (although she had her moments), slim, studious, had long dark brown hair, and was pretty responsible as well.

"Hey, you!" Trinity laughed, giving Jordan a side hug. "Come to return Nick's book?"

"Yep." Jordan smiled, holding it up. "And only to give him the book back. Looking around, I don't regret not ditching this party. It's so loud."

"Right?" Trinity agreed. "It's still fun though. I know parties were never your thing though, so I won't stop you."

"Trinity, you're kidding." The two girls turned to acknowledge the newcomer in the conversation, Patricia. Patricia- or Trish, was Jordan and Trinity's other best friend. Trish was a curvy blonde who often wore her hair medium length hair in curls, a fishtail braid, or a high ponytail. Trish was the wild one in the group. She loved to live her life to the fullest and was always trying to get her friends to do the same. She took pride in being the fun one.

"What?" Trinity smirked at her friend's comment.

"You're letting her get away?" Trish whined playfully, placing her head on Trinity's shoulder.

"She just got back from her New York trip." Trinity pointed out. "Plus, we know these parties aren't really her thing."

"Yeah, Trish." Nick said, walking up to them. "You know Jordan's not down for that kind of fun." He said with a teasing smirk.

Jordan pointed at him and looked at Trish. "He gets it." Trish sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. Jordan passed Nicholas his missing item. "Here's your book, by the way."

He sent her a charming smile. "Thanks, doll."

"Mhm." She rolled her eyes at him playfully. He could be such a flirt. If Jordan was being honest with herself, she found him attractive. She would even admit that she had a small crush on him. They'd flirt every now and then, but nothing was serious.

"You sure you can't stay awhile?" Nick asked. "Relax, dance, have a drink? Word going around is that this is going to be one of the best parties of the year." Before Jordan could respond, Trish spoke.

"She doesn't care. Relaxing isn't really her thing. She probably needs to get back home and file paperwork for daddy or something." Trish said.

Jordan blinked at her, her previous smile changing to one of confusion, showing that she was slightly offended. "What does that mean?"

"Well...just that. I mean...don't you like, live for that company?" She replied with slight hesitation.

"I don't, actually." Jordan replied with a sarcastic smile.

"I didn't mean it like that." Trish began.

"Jordan, what Trish is trying to say it that parties were never really your thing." Trinity spoke up. "And that's okay!" She quickly added. "It's just-"

"You never did anything fun in high school." Trish mumbled. "It was always school and McKessie Enterprises for you. You didn't do parties or go out with anyone much. You only hung out with us. Even then, you were always Miss. Perfect little schoolgirl."

"You _really_ seem to want to turn this conversation into a fight Patricia." Smiling Trinity sang under her breath.

"It's true?" Trish defended herself. "No offense JJ, I'm not trying to call you out or anything, it's just that you're….kind of socially dead."

" _Socially dead_." Jordan repeated in mock awe. Trinity groaned quietly at Trish as Jordan spoke, putting her head in her hand.

"Wait, no, not socially dead-" Trish began.

"No no, it's fine. You know what? I am kind of stressed from the trip." Jordan lightly tapped Nick. "Nick, I think I will have a drink. Could you grab me one?"

"Coming right up." He grinned, walking to the kitchen to retrieve it.

"Thank you." She smiled.

Trinity crossed her arms. "Jordan, you wouldn't."

"I just did." Jordan replied.  
"She's going to drink that one beer, and head home." Trish said to Trinity. "We're lucky if she stays here to drink it." Nick came back at that moment and handed Jordan her drink.

"Then it must be your lucky day." Jordan smirked and took a swig.

Trish didn't seem to believe her. "I bet you twenty- no- _fifty_ dollars that you'll chicken out and go home within two hours."

Jordan held out her hand, her smirk never leaving her face. "You have yourself a deal." They shook hands.

"Alright then." Trish smirked. "Let's party McKessie." Nick and Trinity cheered. Jordan laughed and they went to continue participating in the party.

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

"You're up." Kelsi told Luke with a smile as she left the home's office.

"Thanks." Luke said, giving her a fist bump. "Night Kel."

"Night Lukey." She sang, walking down the hall to her bedroom. Luke walked into the office and took his seat in front of the computer.

"Hey." He greeted Michael with a smile.

"Hey." Michael smiled back. "How was your week?"

"Good." Luke replied, nodding his head. "I was kinda busy with a project so it flew by kind of quickly."

"I heard." Michael nodded with an arch of his eyebrow. "Big project?"

"Medium sized project, big work." Luke clarified.

"Hm….okay." His father nodded. "You think McKessie will go for it?"

"I think he'll love it." Luke grinned. "I can't wait to show him."

"That's great!" Michael nodded. "Now, Luke." He began seriously, "You know that you don't _need_ to impress him, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Luke nodded quickly.

"Okay...because your mother tells me that you didn't notice her come in this evening." Michael continued. "I just want to make sure you're not hyperfocusing on it."

"I'm not, I promise." Luke smiled.

"Okay then." Michael returned it. "That's all I needed to know." Luke nodded.

"Anyway, how was your week?" He asked.

"Great." Michael said cheerfully. "Not nearly as busy as the last. I miss you guys though."

"When are you coming home? Luke asked.

"Eh...a few more months." Michael responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll have to check up on that. I'll let you know as soon as I can."

"Okay." Luke nodded. "How's Aunt Julia?"

"She's good. Still on the phone with Jason." He chuckled. "I think she missed the call last time due to being summoned."

"Ah, I see. That makes sense." Luke chuckled.

"Well, it's time for me to turn in." Michael sighed. "I'm sorry our time was kind of short...was there anything else you wanted to discuss? Your project maybe?"

"I think I'm good." Luke said. "I can update you next week after I tweak a few things?"

"Sure! That sounds great." Michael nodded and smiled at his son. "Can't wait to hear about it."

"Awesome." Luke grinned. "Okay, night dad."

"Night son." Michael replied. "Oh! Luke?" He called softly before Luke hung up.

"Yes sir?" Luke looked up at him.

"Remember, you're an amazing young man." He said.

Luke smiled. "I know. Thanks, Dad."

 _ **XxxxxxxxX**_

About three hours later, it was 1 in the morning. The party was coming to a close and people were starting to head home. Jordan and Nick however, sat by the pool in the back of the frat house talking. At the moment, they were calming themselves down after laughing at a story that Jordan had told.

"So, what made you decide to be the owner of McKessie Enterprises?" Nick questioned.

"Hm…" Jordan hummed, taking yet another sip of her drink from the red solo cup she held. This time, she was having a strawberry vodka. Jordan liked fruitier drinks as opposed to the more bitter ones. She felt light-hearted and warm (perhaps even a bit sleepy). "Well, when I was little, about five I believe, my parents and I were outside of the company building in New York one afternoon. My mom had brought me with her to have lunch with my dad before he had another meeting. We kind of had a picnic on one of the benches. He was telling me how he thought I would like the next client because she had invented a digital toybox. It was like a dispenser of sorts. A child could program their toys into it, drop it in the box, and when they wanted it again, they could press a few buttons on an interactive screen and _boom_! There it was. I of course, wanted to see this _immediately_."

"Of course." Nick said with wide eyes and a nod. "That sounds awesome!"

"It was!" She nodded in agreement. "It was set up like a library on the inside. Different sides had different sizes...it seemed so complex yet so _simple_. In the pictures that my dad showed me, it looked like a regular toy box. Well, a toy box with programming similar to a scanner, at least I couldn't wait to see it. So my dad said that he would take me with him after lunch to see how it worked. The creator- I think her name was started with a P….anyway, she was lovely. Her invention was fantastic and I was just...floored. The fact that she had imagined something and brought it to life to share with the world left me in awe. I then realized that my dad did the same thing. That was his business. Although, he usually looked over the inventions and worked with their inventors to perfect and eventually market them."

"That's pretty cool." Nick admitted.

"He offered to teach me on the way home since I wouldn't stop talking about it. It's been my dream ever since." She smiled at him.

"That's a pretty cool story." Nick commented. "Did you ever have other dreams?" He asked.

Jordan shook her head, her dark brown curls swishing with the motion. "No." She replied.

"What?" Nick said in disbelief. "Come on. You're joking."

"I'm not!" Jordan laughed with another head shake.

"Not one dream." Nick repeated. Another head shake. "Okay well, I had other dreams. For example, when I was in first grade, I told my teacher that I wanted to be the ice cream man."

"The ice cream man." Jordan repeated, her brown eyes lighting up with amusement.

"Yep. I had zero understanding of profit back then and I thought that I would just have a _jolly_ old time eating the ice cream out of my truck for free." Nick chuckled at the memory.

"That sounds...unhealthy." Jordan commented with a giggle.

"Right?" Nick grinned. "But it was my first dream. Didn't you tell your kindergarten or first grade teacher what you wanted to be? Like an astronaut? Or a doctor?"

"Of course I did. Everyone does." Jordan smirked.

"Okay, so what did you answer for that?" Nick asked.

Jordan smiled, looking at the water. "When I was in first grade, I told my teacher that when I grew up, I was going to be the next CEO of McKessie Enterprises. One of the boys in my class said that I couldn't own a company because I was a girl. I responded that I could and that I _would_ because A.) I was _much_ smarter than him, so I knew I would have the skills to qualify, and B.) because my daddy owned the company and he promised that he would train me for the position. I was a total ladyboss."

"Wow." Nick commented, laughing at her reasons. "You told him."

"Uh-huh." She said sassily.

The two sat in peaceful silence for a moment after their laughter died down.

After a moment, Nick spoke again. "Notice how you said 'was going' instead of 'wanted'." He suddenly pointed out, taking a swig of his beer.

Jordan tensed slightly. "Does that matter?"

"Kind of, yeah." Nick nodded, turning his head to look at her. "Because even then, you just went with your first dream. You never explored anything else."

"Why would I need to?" Jordan asked.

"I don't know. I just feel like you should have had a solid reason to choose that as your destiny." Nick replied. "I mean, yeah, you liked the toy box. Who wouldn't? That sounds sick. But...to choose your career goal off of it from such a young age?"

"It was what I decided to do." Jordan said, frowning slightly and looking at the pool again as she took another sip of her vodka.

"Yeah, but was it all your decision?" Nick asked.  
"Yes." Jordan deadpanned, turning to look Nick in his eyes.

"Okay...now tell me why." Nick said.

Jordan scoffed. "I...It just was!" She laughed in disbelief.

"That's not a defendable reason!" Nick pointed at her with a smile.

"It's reason enough for me." Jordan shook her head.

"Are you sure about that?" Nick asked. Jordan opened her mouth the say 'yes' but she...couldn't. Well, didn't. "You're not sure, are you?" Nick stated more than asked. "Well, this is college. Before you graduate with a degree in business and a minor in mechanical engineering, I think the time to decide on a change would be now. What do you want, Jordan?"

Before Jordan could answer, the patio door opened and Trish came over stand to beside the two students.

"Well Jo…I stand corrected." She said, pulling a $50 bill out of her pocket and handing it to Jordan. "You stayed and partied for over two hours. I'm impressed."

"Oh!" Jordan blinked, taking it from her. "Thanks, T. I forgot we even made that bet." She admitted with a laugh.

"I did too for a moment." Trish confessed, laughing as well. "I had fun with you tonight. I wish we could do it more often."

"Yeah, you're pretty cool outside of class. " Nick smiled.

"I'm cool _in_ class too?" She teased.

"Eh, I like you more out here." Nick teased back. "I agree with Trish. I'd like to see you around more often. You should swing by again."

Jordan looked down at her prize, blushing ever so slightly. "Maybe I will." She decided. "I had fun too."  
Trish grinned. "Really?"

"When's the next one?" Jordan smiled back.

"My place, next Wednesday at 8?" She offered.

"I was gonna offer the movies this Friday." Nick raised his hand. "They have thriller night at 7 that evening."

"Let's do both." Jordan shrugged.

Nick and Trish grinned. "Awesome!" they cheered.

"I'll let Trin know." Trish smiled. "Need a ride home?"

"Whoa. None of you should be driving." Nick pointed at her with a serious look.

"Also, I drove, remember?" Jordan added in.

"Oh yeah..." Trish whispered, looking off.

"Let's just go back to your dorm then." Jordan offered. "I'll text my mom, 'cause I'm not going home like this. I'll just say that we had a movie night. We'll tell Trinity the plan on the way there." She stood up.

"Alright." Trish nodded. "Thanks for inviting us, Nick. See you Friday." She waved.

"Thanks for coming." He smiled as they began to go inside. "Hey, Kess?" Jordan turned around before she could enter the glass door.

"Hm?" She hummed in response.

"Think about what I said." He said.

Jordan nodded. "Okay. Have a nice night, Nick." She waved. He saluted her back in response before she went inside. As she made her way to the front door, Jordan sent her mother a text on her whereabouts.

 _To Diana McKessie (Mom 3):_

 _Had a movie night with the girls. Trinity insisted that we watch Harry Potter again, so I'm staying in their dorm tonight. I'll be home after classes tomorrow before movie night. Love you, night mama 3_

After the text sent, Jordan flipped her phone shut and sighed. She needed to get some sleep.

"Ready to go?" She heard Trish say. Jordan turned and smiled at a yawning Trinity beside her.

"Yeah, let's go."

 **Well, that was a look into the characters nightly activities and subplots. ^^ Thanks for reading my nightly activities after a long week of college lol. Feel free to comment below, it would make my day. Or...night. Lol.**

 **Also, here's a Fun Fact:**

 **Nick's first dream to be the ice cream man? That was my first dream. I wanted to be the ice cream man and get free ice cream every day.**

 **Lol, thanks for reading everyone!**


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